Burnell presented a talk, yesterday evening, as part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) symposium on revolutionary developments in radio astronomy.
SKA is a global project which hopes to build the largest collection of radio telescopes in the world in the Karoo and Murchison in Australia by 2020. The symposium is being held 17 to 21 February at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advances Studies (STAIS). Lindsay Magnus, a South African scientist who is part of the team who will be testing innovations for the SKA project, says Burnell’s discovery inspired SKA plans to venture further into research on pulsars.
The SKA project may enable the discovery of different types of pulsars and explain some mysterious phenomenon’s surrounding these stars, says Burnell.
“One of the big questions it wants to answer is some of the questions she started asking, the things we don’t understand about pulsars,” maintains Magnus.
Pulsars are pulsating remains of degenerated stars. According to Burnell NASA is testing a GPS system for space based on the mapping of these pulsar pulses.
“South Africa is going to play a very special place in the near future of radio astronomy and I’m sure you will find it as exciting as we do,” says Burnell.
The Karoo and Murchison, both dessert regions, were selected as venues to host the SKA project as their low population means minimal cellphone interference with radio telescopes.
The Karoo is already the home of two radio telescopes: Kat7 and the MeerKAT, which is currently in progress.
Magnus believes the SKA project will substantially advance South African science and broaden the mind of the everyday South African.
“The greatest benefit will be the possibility for South Africans to have access to the greatest and best technology that will exist on the planet,” says Magnus.
No comments:
Post a Comment