The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Dr Lewis Ball
Deputy Director: Australia Telescope National Facility
23 September 2007
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Context
• Australia is one of the top radio astronomy countries (USA, Netherlands, …)
• Astronomy is the highest impact Australian science
• CSIRO operates Australia Telescope for astronomersfrom around the world
• 2nd most productive radio astronomy facility in the world
• Occasionally collaborate with NASA for space tracking
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
The Australia Telescope National Facility
• Parkes
• 1 x 64m Dish (1961)
• 12m testbed (2008)
• 30 staff
• Narrabri
• ATCA (1988)
• 6 x 22m antennas
• 35 staff
• Marsfield• Labs/workshops/offices
• 100 staff
• Astrophysics research,Engineering R&D, Administration
• Coonabarabran• Mopra (1988+)
• 1 x 22m antenna
• 0 staff
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Science highlights
• 1000 of a total of 1500 pulsars
• Double pulsar (top 10 science outcomes in 2004)
• 5000 new galaxies from HIPASS
• New galactic spiral arm
• Measurement of the temperature in our Galactic Centre
• Radio detection of a magnetar
• Extended correlation betweenradio and infrared emission of galaxies
• Most stringent limits yet on gravity waves
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Current developments
• ATCA - first southern-hemispheremm-array
• Parkes Methanol multibeam receiver
• eVLBI
• CABB (new correlator with10 x increase in bandwidth)
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Future developments
•• 1km1km2 2 collecting area, 5000 antennascollecting area, 5000 antennas•• Fibre-optic Fibre-optic linked, continental scalelinked, continental scale•• 100 x more powerful than current telescopes100 x more powerful than current telescopes•• 17 nations, 2 possible sites17 nations, 2 possible sites
(Australia, S. Africa)(Australia, S. Africa)
Fully operational 2020Fully operational 2020Design/construction 1B Design/construction 1B !!, Operations 50-100M, Operations 50-100M!!/yr/yr
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Australian Astronomy Decadal Plan
• Increasingly internationalMulti-national projects! multi-national facilities
• Australia: 10% participation in SKA
! Develop radio astronomyinfrastructure in WA
! Staged approach
• CSIRO to manage SKA activities
• Existing ATNF telescopes importantfor at least a decade
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
SKA Science
The cradle of life
Probing the Dark Ages
Origin & evolution of cosmic magnetism
Tests of gravity using pulsars and black holes
Galaxy evolution, cosmology & dark energy
• Australia: 10% participation in SKA
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Australia’s SKA core site
• International submission end-05
• One of two sites deemedacceptable
• Murchison shire
• 5 nanohumans per square metre
• Radio-frequency interference
• Legislation to protectunique resource –radio-quiet zone
RFI monitoring at Murchison
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Radio Frequency interference
Sydney
Pop. 4 million
Narrabri
Pop 6,000
MRO
Pop. 4
80-1600MHz
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Australian SKA Pathfinder
• Fast survey telescope, rapid coverage ofthe whole sky, huge field of view
• Led by CSIRO
• Partners - Canada, South Africa &The Netherlands
• A$120M
• Operate by 2011-12
• 45x12m antennas
• 8km baseline
• NSW station
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Murchison radio observatory
• 800km NE of Perth
• Population 4 – area the same as Belgium
• Working on temporary licence to CSIRO for radio astronomyuse, retaining native title
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Murchison radio observatory
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Demonstrator at Marsfield
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Parkes testbed
• Test new receivers
• Develop techniques
• Combine data with 64mantenna
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
New receiver technologies
• Multi-elementreceivers
• Groundbreakingtechnology
• 200 receivers perantenna
• 9000 receivers anddata chains to beprocessedsimultaneously
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Australasian SKA
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
Challenges
Decrease element costby factor 10
Enormous data rates
Remote area energy,maintenance
Money
International politics
CSIRO. The future of radio astronomy in Australia
The information revolution
Decrease element costby factor 10
Enormous data rates
The Australian SKA Pathfinder…
In the first six hours
Will generate more informationThan the entire history of radioastronomy
Contact Us
Phone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176
Email: [email protected] Web: www.csiro.au
Thank you
Australia Telescope National Facility
Dr Lewis BallDeputy Director: ATNF
Phone: 02 9372 4300Email: [email protected]: www.csiro.au/atnf