ASKAP News Archive 2015

ASKAP 2015 recap poster

2015: ASKAP in review, December 2015
The end of the year is a time to reflect on the major achievements of the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) project in 2015, thanks to the team staff based in CSIRO offices across Australia, those on the ground at the MRO, as well as our international collaborators. Read more

New PAFs 'on the verge' of surpassing BETA, December 2015
Commissioning activities with ASKAP’s newest receivers have produced an image from ‘the most beams yet’, with early data indicating the performance of the Mk II systems may be on the verge of surpassing the BETA telescope. Read more

Supercomputing resources secured for ASKAP Early Science, December 2015
CSIRO has teamed up with leading scientists from the ASKAP early science projects to secure 600,000 core hours of processing time on the largest research supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere. Read more

'Exotic pulsar' theories confirmed with BETA, December 2015
The latest paper to be published from ASKAP has used commissioning data to confirm theoretical predictions of an ‘exotic’ intermittent pulsar almost 6,000 light years away. Read more

#ASKAP2016: Registration now open!, December 2015
Registration and abstract submissions are now open for the ASKAP survey science conference, ASKAP 2016: The future of radio astronomy surveys. Read more

Australia welcomes the SKA to the 'ideas boom', December 2015
On Monday 7 December, the Australian Government took an important step towards hosting the SKA when the Prime Minister announced a provisional funding allocation for the project as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda. Read more

Progress on power solutions for the MRO 'surges' ahead, December 2015
The MRO is not only home to world-leading radio telescopes, but will also soon be home to a permanent observatory power station – a hybrid plant that will use both diesel generators, photovoltaic solar cells and a large lithium battery storage system. Read more

New memo points to value of ASKAP's third axis, November 2015
A new technical memo details a number of methods used to refine the pointing corrections of BETA and ensure accurate tracking of sources. One of the methods involves using the ASKAP antenna's roll axis to achieve a more precise measurement. Read more

Tackling the SKA engineering challenges of tomorrow, November 2015
Representatives from CASS are attending the second annual SKA Engineering Meeting this week, where over 200 engineers have gathered to consider the engineering challenges of the future mega-science project, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope. Read more

Now available: 3TB astronomy data for public discovery, November 2015
An 'initial release' of ASKAP demonstration data has today been made available by the CSIRO ASKAP Data Science Archive (CASDA) team, as a vital step in preparation for the start of ASKAP Early Science in 2016. Read more

First multi-beam images with ASKAP's newest receivers, November 2015
Early commissioning trials of four ASKAP antennas installed with the second generation (Mk II) phased array feed receivers have resulted in the first multi-beam image for ASKAP. Read more

ASKAP wins CSIRO's highest honour, October 2015
The team behind CSIRO’s newest radio telescope, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), has won the 2015 Chairman’s Medal at today’s CSIRO Awards ceremony. Read more

Workshop takes a team approach towards SKA1 in WA, October 2015
CSIRO and ICRAR this week welcomed over 60 attendees to a seminar to discuss the engineering, science planning, and governance activities that will underpin the delivery of SKA1 in Western Australia. Read more

SKA science on the agenda for Australian astronomers, October 2015
Australian astronomers have gathered to discuss and prepare for the Key Science Projects (KSP) of the international Square Kilometre Array telescope project. Read more

Astronomers take planning for ASKAP Early Science to the next level, October 2015
This week over 70 astronomers gathered to explore the scope, implementation and expected science outcomes of the ASKAP Early Science Program, which is due to begin in 2016. Read more

EMC to build Australia's largest battery storage system for the MRO, October 2015
CSIRO has appointed Energy Made Clean (EMC) to engineer, procure and construct a 2.5 MWh battery storage system at the Murchison Radio astronomy Observatory (MRO). Read more

WA Premier visits Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, October 2015
CSIRO and ICRAR welcomed Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett on a special visit to the MRO to take a tour the unique radio astronomy site and see the telescopes already producing exciting science from the remote observatory. Read more

CSIRO strengthens expertise in low frequency radio astronomy, September 2015
CSIRO is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr George Heald as a CSIRO Science Leader, specialising in Low Frequency Radio Astronomy. Read more

New book details 135 chapters of SKA science, September 2015
The new SKA science book, Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array, has now been released. Read more

First image made with ASKAP's newest receivers, September 2015
Just a week after the ASKAP team achieved phase closure with the first three Mk II phased array feed (PAF) receivers installed on ASKAP antennas at the MRO, the first image has been produced with the system. Read more

Phase closure achieved with Mk II PAFs at the MRO, August 2015
The first tests carried out on three ASKAP Mk II PAFs recently installed at the MRO have confirmed in-the-field performance of the newest receiver systems developed for radio astronomy. Read more

New receivers for ASKAP installed at MRO, August 2015
The first four production Mk II phased array feed (PAF) receivers are now installed on ASKAP antennas at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. Read more

First ASKAP paper detects 'cloudy' galaxies, July 2015
In what is the first scientific ASKAP paper accepted for publication, BETA commissioning data has mapped the IC 1459 galaxy group, resolving HI emission in eleven galaxies and discovering three previously unknown HI clouds. Read more

Energy Made Clean to build off-grid solar power station for ASKAP, July 2015
CSIRO has appointed EMC Solar Construction to engineer, procure and construct a 1.6 MW Solar Power Station at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO), home to the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). Read more

Australia embarks on SKA telescope treaty negotiations, July 2015
Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Science has announced Australia is taking a new step towards hosting the SKA, following recent pre-negotiation meetings in Brussels that have cleared the way for treaty negotiations to begin. Read more.

Balagardi Barnagardi launches in Canberra for NAIDOC week, July 2015
A pop-up art exhibition was launched in Canberra for NAIDOC week, in celebration of artwork from the Wajarri Yamatji and the connection they have with the country in the remote Mid-West region of Western Australia. Read more.

ASKAP discovers HI absorption in distant galaxy, July 2015
CSIRO's newest radio telescope, ASKAP, has opened a window to a little-explored period of the Universe’s history, using a special technique to spot a galaxy five billion light-years away. Read more.

New lead announced for SKA Dish Consortium, June 2015
CSIRO has announced the appointment of Roger Franzen as the new lead of the SKA Dish Array Consortium, a multi-national effort to design the dishes and receivers for the SKA as part of the pre-construction phase. Read more.

Open access to ASKAP data will enable multiple breakthroughs, June 2015
ASKAP was one of a number of projects featured at the Australian Open Data Showcase last week for the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). Read more.

SKA telescope announces permanent headquarters, April 2015
Members of the SKA Organisation have decided negotiations should start with the UK government to locate the permanent headquarters of the SKA project at the Jodrell Bank site. Read more.

ASKAP team gets even 'busier', April 2015
Following the successful weekly ‘Busy Thursdays’ held throughout 2014, the ASKAP Commissioning and Early Science (ACES) team has ramped up commissioning work to monthly ‘Busy Weeks’. Read more.

OzSKA meeting gets a sneak peak at ASKAP science, April 2015
Over 100 astronomers gather this week for the OzSKA meeting, as a chance to discuss radio astronomy over the next decade and prepare for science with the future SKA telescope. Read more.

CSIRO and ICRAR build thousands of antennas at the Perth AstroFest, March 2015
Australia’s largest annual astronomy festival returned to Perth this year, with CSIRO and ICRAR teaming up to build (small LEGO replica) ASKAP antennas in Curtin Stadium for AstroFest. Read more.

ASKAP team busy with Mk II PAF assembly ahead of deployment to site, March 2015
Production and assembly of CSIRO's Mk II phased array feed receivers for ASKAP is ramping up ahead of deployment to the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia. Read more.

International SKA telescope project takes a step towards construction, March 2015
In early March, the Board of Directors of the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope met to discuss the Phase 1 design (SKA1) of the future mega-science project. Read more.

ASKAP PAF performance signficantly improved with Mk II system, February 2015
On-dish measurements from CSIRO’s newest phased-array feed (PAF) have confirmed low-noise performance across the entire ASKAP frequency band. Read more.

Search for transients aids BETA commissioning, January 2015
To demonstrate the rapid, wide-area survey capability of the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, a new image of the Tucana constellation has been produced, over three times the size of previous efforts. Read more.

Advancing astrophysics with the SKA, January 2015
A number of science papers that form the basis of the new SKA science book, Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array, are being published on the arXiv.org astrophysics pre-print website. Read more.

ASKAP News Archive

For older news items (2009-2014), visit the ASKAP News Archive page.

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