Astronomers are also hoping for new insights into the early universe: “Scientists hope to be able to use the immensely powerful telescope to study the ‘cosmic dawn’ of the universe, a period between about 100 million and a billion years after the Big Bang, when the first stars were born, life arose and galaxies formed,” wrote The Age newspaper.
“Square Kilometer Array” is considered one of the most important scientific projects of this century. The first construction phase of the antennas, which are somewhat reminiscent of Christmas trees, is expected to be completed in 2028. In later phases, hundreds of thousands of antennas will be added in Australia and thousands of antennas in South Africa – a total area one square kilometer, from which the name of the project derives.
“The SKA telescopes will be sensitive enough to detect an airport radar on a planet orbiting a star 10 light-years away,” said SKA director Sarah Pearce. “So even the biggest question of all could be answered: are we alone in the universe?”