CSIRO's ASKAP Radio Telescope

CSIRO's new ASKAP antennas at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. Image: Dragonfly Media.

ASKAP is designed to be a high speed survey instrument with high dynamic range. This requires an extremely wide field-of-view interferometer with Phased Array Feeds (PAFs) consisting of 188 elements in each of two polarisations as the focal plane detectors.

The specification for ASKAP is:

A total collecting area of approximately 4,000 square metres, from 36 antennas each 12 metres in diameter
System temperature less than 50 K
Frequency range from 700 MHz to 1.8 GHz
300 MHz instantaneous bandwidth
36 independent beams, each of about 1 square degree, yield overlapping to a 30 square degree field-of-view at 1.4 GHz
Maximum baseline of approximately 6 km
Full cross-correlation of all antennas
Possible remote array station capability located in NSW, approximately 3,000 km from the core site.

Take a Look at ASKAP

What does ASKAP look like right now? See the latest webcam images of ASKAP from the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory
Take in an incredible timelapse of the ASKAP antennas standing proudly at the MRO
Experience the ASKAP Opening Ceremony in this stunning video report [19MB .mp4]
Watch an animation of ASKAP by Swinburne Astronomy Productions [42MB .mov]
ASKAP is on Google Maps: zoom in to see the antennas and other infrastructure
Read the timeline for construction of ASKAP and its supporting infrastructure

Latest News

A ground view of ASKAP antennas standing under a sunny sky.

Selavy supports source finding for ASKAP SSTs
May 2013: The ASKAP Computing team has created a test source-finder to simulate and analyse expected data sets from ASKAP.

A ground view of three ASKAP antennas against a starry sky.

Remote access aids ASKAP commissioning
May 2013: The ASKAP hardware correlator will soon be on its way out to the MRO for remote development and testing, which will optimise remote accessibility of ASKAP during commissioning activities.

The first multi-beam test image created with three ASKAP antennas at the MRO.

Multi-beam image offers sneak peek of ASKAP field-of-view
April 2013: The first multi-beam image ever made using phased array feeds (PAFs) on an interferometer has been produced by the ASKAP commissioning team at the MRO.

More ASKAP news