Italy and UK vie to provide headquarters for giant telescope

Nature : The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a large radio telescope to be built in Australia and South Africa. Although construction won’t begin until 2018, two countries are currently contending to serve as its headquarters. Until now, the Jodrell Bank Observatory near Manchester, UK, has been serving as the project’s provisional headquarters. However, Padua, Italy, has also put forth a proposal to host it, in a medieval castle, Castello Carrarese. The SKA headquarters will be responsible for allocating observation time on the telescope, making decisions on upgrades, and managing other policy areas. Both sites meet SKA’s needs, but Padua is said to support a larger community of astronomers, whereas Manchester has a stronger radio astronomy tradition. After further discussion of the two proposals, the SKA organization says it should reach a decision in a few weeks.