Silence is golden in Australia’s bid for super telescope
JUL 07, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025433
Sydney Morning Herald : Australia is one of the shortlisted candidates to host the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope, the world’s most powerful radio telescope. The final decision is expected in February. One potential problem for Australia’s bid is that the SKA requires a 30-kilometer, or 18.6-mile, area of “radio quiet” to function properly; radio signals from human activity can overwhelm radio-wave signals from space. Its prospective location in Western Australia is close to mining operations that rely on radio communications. Brian Boyle, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, is leading Australia’s bid for SKA and believes the mining and scientific sectors can coexist in the region.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
