1. The Karoo Array Telescope Adrian Tiplady atiplady@ska.ac.za v1.0, v1.1, v2.0, v2.1 …

2. The Northern Cape

3. Karoo Array Telescope (KAT v1.0) ParameterValue A20x15m = 3535m 2 T sys 55K 700-1750 MHz  256 MHz Spectral channels65536  min 300 Hz Nominal baseline (max)1500 m Spatial resolution 35” x (1420MHz/) x (1.5km/L) Instantaneous FoV30 deg 2 Post-calibration polarisation purity40 dB 5.1 x (15m/D) 2 x (1420MHz/) 2 deg 2 27 K

4. Funding South African Treasury has announced additional funding “towards a 10% SKA demonstrator”. –Top-down funding: ZA government desires to create a hub for Southern Hemisphere astronomy. Total ZA investment of  R1b at present. –US$140M –Includes infrastructure at about 25% of total. This will be enough for “few percent” SKA Additional ZA investment will require co- investment from outside –ZA government will match additional funding (or in kind contributions), up to the scale of Big KAT

5. KAT Meer  More KAT

6. MeerKAT Partnerships Internationalisation a precondition of new funding. –Direct/in-kind/FTE/IP contributions very welcome. Existing technology partnerships continue. –e.g. CONRAD (AU) & Berkeley (CASPER). Links with SKADS very important. –Particularly DS2 (T1/T2) and DS4 (2-PAD). Science and technology workshops mooted for 2007 –EU, US & ZA in addition to AU MIRANDA meetings. –Open and transparent participation process.

7. MeerKAT ParameterMeerKAT A>80x15m=14139m 2 (or area equivalent) T sys 27K [GHz] 0.7-3, 8-12  512 MHz Spectral channels65536  min 300 Hz Nominal baseline (max)5 km Spatial resolution 10” x (1420MHz/) x (5km/L) Instantaneous FoV 0.73 x (1420MHz/) 2 x (15m/ D ) 2 deg 2 Post-calibration polarisation purity40 dB Includes planning for mid/low frequency aperture array Maximum baseline not yet settled – imaging vs. point sources Dish diameter not yet settled – cost function dependent on more than just science

8. KAT to MeerKAT

10. Cost versus performance Identify and determine coefficients and exponents in cost equation –Dish cost = A  Diam B  freq C –Receiver cost (incl. F) = C  FoV –Correlator cost (X) = D  Nant 2 x FoV –Infrastructure cost = f(Nsta, Filling factor, Baseline, Diam… ) –Lifetime cost = ??? 10% of total capital investment per annum is unreasonable, especially for the SKA System engineering is producing logistics models that will be optimised to reduce lifetime costs Performance metrics –Survey speed –Point source sensitivity –Dynamic range = 5 x= 1 x Savings = 1.5E3 x

11. MeerKAT Timeline

12. Science goals for MeerKAT Transients & Pulsars –Transient survey Fast transient real-time detection system Slow transients –Pulsar monitoring/searching Hetrogeneous distribution HI –0<z<1 Molecules –Redshifted CO Cosmic magnetism

13. MeerKAT… work in progress SA SKA Project Office, Johannesburg KAT Team, Cape Town PED, Cape TownLittle Blue, Cape TownFPA, Test range

14. MeerKAT… work in progress May 2006November 2005 June 2006September 2006 November 2006

15. 15 Nov 200610 Jan 200712 Jan 2007 MeerKAT… work in progress 6 Feb 2007 28 Jan 2007 20 February 2007 27 February 2007 16 March 2007 19 March 2007 24 March 200728 March 2007

16. MeerKAT… work in progress www.hartrao.ac.za/xdm

17. Feed

18. Software - CONRAD http://www.conradsoftware.org/katos

19. meerKAT Making MeerKAT happen – implementation through prototypes Pre-production model (PPM) KAT Advanced development model (ADM) Experimental development model (XDM) Production Equivalent demonstrator (PED) 4x3x2 FPA Completed Current Current Future Future FutureFuture SAAO, Cape Town HartRAO HartRAO HartRAO KarooKaroo

20. Legislation: Astronomy Geographical Advantage Act Empowers the Minister for Science and Technology to declare protected areas around strategic astronomy sites by publication in the Government Gazette. The Act empowers the Minister to prohibit over-flights The Act covers both radio and optical astronomy Three tiers of protected areas: –Core area – the physical area of the observatory / instrument –Central area – surrounds the core area. Minister prohibits certain activities / categories of activities in this area –Coordination area –Minister sets standards which activities must comply with Protected areas apply to existing and new activities

21. The Northern Cape

22. RFI Campaign: Reciprocal Sensitivity Prediction

23. Radio Astronomy Reserve

24. SA SKA Project Director: Bernie Fanaroff (bfanaroff@fanaroff.co.za)bfanaroff@fanaroff.co.za SA SKA Project Scientist: Justin Jonas (j.jonas@ru.ac.za)j.jonas@ru.ac.za KAT Project Manager: Anita Loots (aloots@ska.ac.za) SA SKA Project Office Tel: +27 11 442 2434 www.ska.ac.za www.kat.ac.za