NZ, Aust could host telescope project

New Zealand and Australia are in the running to be at the forefront of the world's premier radio telescope project - the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope Project (SKA).

As part of the project, a series of about 5000 telescopes covering a total area of one square kilometre will be constructed between 2012 and 2020 across either Australasia or Southern Africa.

The host location will be decided by early 2012.

Victoria University radio astronomer Melanie Johnston-Hollitt is co-ordinating a meeting today to map New Zealand's involvement in Australasia's bid to host the project.

"Hosting this project would put Australia and New Zealand at the centre of a significant international project in a very important field of research," said Dr Johnston-Hollitt, one of New Zealand's only radio astronomers.

An important part of the project was that the research undertaken by radio astronomers over the 50-year life of the telescopes would generate significant spin-offs in software development, electronics, super-computing, fibre optics, construction and manufacturing.

Dr Johnston-Hollitt said most telescopes currently used by radio astronomers around the world are 10 to 30-years-old, so the new telescope, with a far greater collecting surface, would enable their research to progress.

More than 15 countries including the United States, Canada, India, South Africa, and Europe are collaborating on the project.

- NZPA