The MeerKAT-SKA schools competition Enter and stand a chance to WIN! You could WIN A laptop/notebook An ipod A printer SKA SA branded clothing and bags For enquiries: Tel: (012) 392 9300 email:skacompetition@saasta.ac.za website:www.saasta.ac.za
The South African SKA Project is one of the most exciting science and engineering projects in South Africa that consists of: Africa s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope (SKA) The design, construction and operation of the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) A Youth into Science and Engineering Programme which supports students who wish to become scientists or engineers who will work with the MeerKAT and SKA radio telescopes What is the SKA? The SKA will be a mega radio telescope, about 100 times more sensitive than any other existing radio telescope. (Radio telescopes are used to collect radio waves from objects in space like planets, stars and galaxies) It will consist of about 3000 dish-shaped antennas that will be spread over a vast area of up to 3000 km. Each antenna will be approximately 15m in diameter. (A radio telescope antenna looks like a very large DSTV dish. The antenna can be rotated and tilted up and down to point at different parts of the sky) The combined area of all the SKA dishes will add up to nearly one square kilometre hence the name Square Kilometre Array. What is an array? - A radio telescope may consist of a single large antenna or of a group of smaller antennas (known as an array) linked together by optical fibre data links. What will the SKA do? Radio telescopes allow us to look deep into space, but what s more exciting is that they allow us to look back in time! The SKA will be much bigger and much more sensitive than any other existing telescope and so will allow us to look even further into space and back in time in fact all the way to when the Universe began some 13.7 billion years ago!
This SKA will: Collect the very weak cosmic radio signals from the edges of our Universe from a time just before the first stars and galaxies formed, about 500 000 years after the Big Bang. Search the Milky Way for Earth-like planets and life elsewhere. Test Einstein s theory of gravity and investigate the nature of dark energy and dark matter. Probe the dark-ages before stars and galaxies were formed, to allow us to understand how the Universe formed and how stars and galaxies evolved. Allow astronomers to make many startling new discoveries about the Universe that we have not even imagined yet. Where will the SKA be built? The SKA must be built in a remote area, as far away as possible from radio frequency interference. Man-made electronic devices, such as cellular phones, radio and television broadcast transmitters, microwave ovens and air traffic navigation systems, produce strong signals that interfere with the detection of weak radio waves coming from the distant Universe. This interference on radio telescopes by signals coming from man-made devices is called Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). The site where the SKA will be built must be dry (experience very low rainfall) because the water droplets in the atmosphere absorb the cosmic radio waves. In 2005 five countries submitted bids to host the SKA. The African and Australasian sites are the only remaining regions in the bid to host the SKA. The choice between the two sites will probably be made in 2012, by an international committee of astronomers, engineers, funding agencies and governments. If Africa wins the SKA bid, the core of the telescope will be constructed in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape Province with outlying telescope stations throughout South Africa and many other African countries.
What is MeerKAT? South Africa is building its very own radio telescope near the site identified for the SKA. The Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) will be the most sensitive radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and will consist of 64 dish antennas similar to those of the SKA. The development phase of MeerKAT (called KAT 7) has already been completed. KAT 7 is a prototype that has been built to test all of the telescope systems the antennas, the receiver systems, and the complex software and computing systems. Once all the systems have been tested and optimized the full MeerKAT array will be rolled out. Careers in Radio Astronomy There are many exciting careers in radio astronomy. Radio astronomy facilities and university research groups need astronomers and astrophysicists, engineers and technicians. A matric exemption in both mathematics and science will allow you to enroll for a degree in mathematics and physics or engineering at a university. At university you must first complete an undergraduate degree in either physics or engineering before going on to more specialized postgraduate research studies. Many South African universities offer postgraduate degrees in radio astronomy and the engineering fields relevant to radio astronomy.
Entry form All learners from Grades 8 to 11 are invited to enter the South African SKA Project s schools competition. Just answer the multiple choice questions below and fill in your name and other required details. The competition closes on 31 October 2010. Mail entries to: OR Hand deliver to: THE MeerKAT-SKA SCHOOLS COMPETITION C/O SAASTA, PO BOX 1758, PRETORIA 0001 SAASTA, DIDACTA BUILDING, 211 SKINNER STREET, PRETORIA Questions: Please circle the correct answer. 1. The Square Kilometre Array will be: a. A radio telescope b. A gamma-ray telescope c. An optical telescope 2. Radio frequency interference refers to: a. The sound produced by a radio b. The interference of radio signals from space by radio signals from man made devices c. The frequency at which radios transmit signals 3. The MeerKAT telescope will consist of: a. 64 antennas b. 7 antennas c. 3000 antennas 4. KAT 7 is being used to: a. Search the Universe for Earth-like planets and life elsewhere b. Test all of the telescope systems for MeerKAT c. Reduce the levels of RFI in the Northern Cape 5. The Northern Cape was chosen by South Africa as the best site for the SKA and the MeerKAT because: a. It has a high population density b. There is heavy rainfall in the summer c. The levels of RFI are low YOUR NAME... NAME OF SCHOOL... PROVINCE... IN WHICH GRADE ARE YOU?... POSTAL ADDRESS...... HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER... SCHOOL TELEPHONE NUMBER... SCHOOL FAX NUMBER... COMPETITION RULES Send one name per entry form only You may make photocopies of the entry form, or download copies from the website www.saasta.ac.za Your entry must reach us by 31 October 2010 The organisers will appoint independent judges and their decision will be final.