The first image from the international SKA Observatory’s telescope in Australia was released on Monday, marking a significant milestone in its quest to reveal an unparalleled view of the universe.
The image uses just 1,024 of the planned 131,072 antennas, and gives an indication of the scientific revelations that will be possible with the world’s most powerful radio observatory.
SKA-Low is one of two telescopes under construction by the SKA Observatory (SKAO), co-hosted in Australia and South Africa on behalf of its member states and the global community. Maltese scientists were among the team that designed and built the telescope.
The image shows an area of sky of about 25 square degrees – equivalent to approximately 100 full moons. In it, one can see around 85 of the brightest known galaxies in that region, all of which contain supermassive black holes.
When complete, the same area of sky will reveal much more – scientists calculate the telescope will be sensitive enough to show more than 600,000 galaxies in the same frame.
SKA-Low lead commissioning scientist Dr George Heald said he was delighted to see how well the first four stations were working together.
“The quality of this image was even beyond what we hoped for using such an early version of the telescope,” Heald said. “The bright galaxies we can see in this image are just the tip of iceberg.
"With the full telescope we will have the sensitivity to reveal the faintest and most distant galaxies, back to the early Universe when the first stars and galaxies started to form. This is technically difficult work and the first step to unlocking the awesome science that will be possible.”
Spanning three continents and tapping the brains of over 1,000 scientists from 20 countries, the telescope seeks to discover how the first stars formed in the universe, shed light on whether intelligent life has developed on other planets and subject Einstein’s theory of relativity to its most stringent test to date.
Maltese scientists officially joined the global team in 2015.
Prof. Kristian Zarb Adami, from the University’s Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy said: “It is incredibly rewarding to witness the first images emerge after years of hard work from the teams across 20 countries, and very exciting for us in Malta.
"This preliminary result is of particular relevance to Malta as we have been involved in the project from the initial design phases of the telescope,” he added.
Zarb Adami, together with his colleagues Prof. Alessio Magro and Dr Andrea De Marco, have been contributing towards the software and image processing side of the telescope since the first antennas were placed in the Australian desert.