{"id":78920,"date":"2016-09-28T18:47:39","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T16:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/africas-meerkat-first-light-images-have-blown-all-expectations-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2016-09-28T18:47:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T16:47:39","slug":"africas-meerkat-first-light-images-have-blown-all-expectations-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/africas-meerkat-first-light-images-have-blown-all-expectations-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa’s MeerKAT ‘first light’ images have blown all expectations | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa’s MeerKAT ‘first light’ images have blown all expectations<\/a>: <\/p>\n

<\/span> SKA South Africa<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Something hugely important is happening in a vast, quiet stretch of South Africa\u2019s Northern Cape province. A new radio telescope operating at just a quarter of its full power is revealing the universe\u2019s secrets one image at a time.<\/p>\n

MeerKAT will ultimately become part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope. Once it\u2019s completed some time in the decade following 2020, the SKA will be the world\u2019s largest radio telescope. The project is shared between South Africa and Australia. It\u2019s not just its size that sets it apart from other radio telescopes but also sensitivity and speed. At full power, the SKA will have 50 times the sensitivity and 10,000 times the survey speed of the best existing telescopes.<\/p>\n

It will see more, and see it faster. It can explore the universe and answer some of humanity\u2019s biggest scientific questions \u2013 like, \u201cIs there life out there?\u201d and \u201cHow are galaxies formed?\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this lies some time in the future. But already, MeerKAT is yielding remarkable results.<\/p>\n

Off to a good start<\/h2>\n

MeerKAT currently comprises 16 dishes (of an eventual 64) functioning as a telescope array \u2013 a radio telescope works by effectively linking smaller dishes together and operating as one.<\/p>\n

These 16 dishes, known collectively as Array Release 1, recently embarked on their first assignment. It was an amazing start: Array Release 1 found 1300 galaxies in a patch of sky that was previously thought to contain only 70. That\u2019s hundreds of new galaxies to be studied and understood, and greatly adds to our knowledge of the universe.<\/p>\n

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View showing 10% of the full MeerKAT First Light radio image. More than 200 astronomical radio sources (white dots) are visible in this image. Before MeerKAT only five were known (indicated by violet circles). This image spans about the area of the Earth\u2019s moon.<\/span> SKA South Africa<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because MeerKAT specialises in radio galaxies, it can peer through the thick layers of dust that surround such galaxies. Astronomer Michael Rich, who wasn\u2019t part of the study, told National Geographic:<\/p>\n

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In some cases, the radio galaxy can have a great deal of obscuring dust, and you wouldn\u2019t be able to see anything \u2013 or almost anything \u2013 with an optical telescope.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

These \u201cfirst light\u201d images are extremely exciting, whether for seasoned astronomers or ordinary people who crave more information about the world \u201cout there\u201d.<\/p>\n