A Technology Development Project for the Large-N/Small-D SKA Concept

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

SKA TDP ABSTRACT This award will be used to undertake a Technology Development Program (TDP) for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). The SKA is a global program to design and build a new generation radio telescope to operate at meter to centimeter wavelengths. The SKA will be an aperture synthesis facility wherein signals from separated antennas are combined digitally to simulate a telescope having a diameter equal to the largest antenna separation, planned to be more than 3000 km. It will operate over the frequency range from roughly 100 MHz to 10-25 GHz. The SKA will have a collecting area of order one million square meters, a sensitivity 50 times higher than the Very Large Array, and an instantaneous field of view of at least 1 square degree. It will be a powerful survey telescope with the capability to follow up individual objects with high angular and time resolution. The SKA TDP will examine the technical feasibility and costs of the so-called Large-N/Small-D concept (LNSD, where N is number of antennas and D is the diameter of each). Activities within the TDP will tap areas of expertise in the U.S. and also complement work done outside the U.S. Some of the work will comprise unique contributions to the SKA project, while others will be achieved via collaborations within the context of international working groups. The TDP will complement a systems design and costing effort carried out as a Preparatory Study under the European Commission?s Framework Programme 7.