[In Depth] Giant radio telescope faces downsizing
The spiraling costs of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), a continent-spanning radio telescope that will ultimately consist of thousands of dishes and antennas deployed across southern Africa and Australia, are forcing planners to scale the observatory back substantially. The project's first phase, known as SKA1, must reduce costs by about 20%, or €150 million, which could mean fewer dishes, fewer frequency bands, or some other economy. When completed, the SKA should detect faint radio waves emitted when the first stars formed in the universe and monitor metronomic radio beacons called pulsars for signs of gravitational waves, among other things. But some fear that the downsizing could threaten the array's scientific promise. Author: Edwin Cartlidge