Literally. Building the SKA Dr. Lisa Harvey-Smith | CSIRO Square Kilometre Array Project Scientist 1st June 2012 ASTRONONY & SPACE SCIENCE

If the improvement in sensitivity has reached a ceiling, the rates of new discoveries will decline and the field of radio astronomy will become uninteresting and die out. On the other hand if we can shift to new technology or find new ways to organise our resources, the exponential increase in sensitivity can continue. Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Ekers and Bell (2000)

Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith Stay ahead of the curve Co-Operate Global Science Collaborations Leverage Existing Resources Citizen Science Saturate Higher sensitivity Wider Field of View Wider Bandwidth High Time Resolution Powerful Computing Innovate Smart Receivers Intelligent Software Clever Array Design RFI Excision/nulling

Recent SKA News…. Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Majority of members in favour of a dual-site implementation for SKA Site Options Working Group showed that a scientifically justified and technically viable approach is possible. For SKA1, viable dual-site implementations exist that add to the scientific appeal of the first stage of SKA. Incorporating existing infrastructure into SKA1 adds >300 million Euro. A dual site also maximises the long-term financial viability of the project through continuation of the current membership and a global character that will be attractive to future members. The Dual Site Statement Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

SKA Phase 1 - early-mid 2020s Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Additional 60 dishes with PAFs = 96 dish survey instrument (Specs TBC: 3 spiral arms, few 10s of km radius?)

SKA 1 sparse aperture array ( MHz, tens of km) 50 AA stations, each 180m across. 50% within 500m Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Additional 190 dishes with single-pixel feeds = 250 dish pulsar/deep ~100km maximum baseline

Satisfactory technical performance of SKA1 at both sites is expected for the implementation of all aspects of SKA2. Nominally: SKA Phase 2 (late 2020s) Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Pre-Construction Phase: Detailed design ( ) WBS/SOW done but needs revision. Request for proposals delayed Next Steps Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

The Board to negotiate mutually acceptable hosting arrangements including host contributions between the Organisation and each site. SKA Office to lead a detailed definition period to scope out the implementation in more detail Revise the Business Plan and the Project Execution Plan in collaboration with the sites Address how and when the precursor infrastructure should be integrated into SKA. SKA Office to work with the Board to develop the governance arrangements needed (~6 months) Next Steps…continued Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Science Plans and Resourcing Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Element-level scientists lead cost-tradeoffs but SKAO under staffed Delivery of science-engineering tradeoff studies has to move from desktop to ‘real-world’, including cost-modelling In-kind science community contributions key to success of SKA Groups like SPARCS extremely valuable Should be endorsed and embraced by the project Science input to SKA Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

Upgrade path must be kept open Sensitivity Add collecting area / Increase bandwidth RFI Site & Design Choices / Spectrum Management / Removal ResolutionSize of Earth / Maximum Frequency ComputingMoore’s Law / Quantum Computing VLBI Cost effective, leverages existing infrastructure promotes international co-operation. SKA – the gift that keeps on giving Building the Square Kilometre Array | Lisa Harvey-Smith

The world is our interferometer

Thank you CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science Dr. Lisa Harvey-Smith CSIRO SKA Project Scientist wwww.atnf.csiro.au w CSIRO ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCE