Wildflowers blooming within an SKA-Low station

Yesterday’s ADAP showed a view of Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, looking down from the sky. Today’s ADAP is the ground view of SKA-Low antennas looking up into space! The SKA-Low stations, each of which contains 256 log-periodic dipole antennas, are also part of the profusion of wildflowers this year. The antennas are placed on a wire mesh grid, which serves as a ground plane for the antennas to enhance low-frequency antenna gain and stabilize measurements against varying soil conditions. But the mesh is wide enough to leave plenty of room for wildflowers in season.