The One-Kilometre-Square Telescope (1kT)
Funded under the International Collaboration Project of the
MNRF Program


Proposer: B MacA Thomas

The 1 kT is the next-generation centimetre-wave radio telescope, having a collecting area of 1 km2 (or 106 m2) - the equivalent of more than one hundred dishes of 100 m diameter. In contrast, the largest and most sensitive existing array has a physical area of 1.3 x 104 m2. The new telescope project involves collaborative strategic research with partners from The Netherlands, Canada, China, India and the USA; overall co-ordination is provided by working groups within the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), and the OECD Megascience Forum. The detailed specifications of the instrument are currently being established and, on present estimates, the 1 kT could be completed in the decade 2010-2020.

The Australian contributory project is being supported by both the ATNF and the MNRF International Astronomy Collaboration. The International Astronomy Collaboration funding is providing the salary (but not all overheads) for a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. The main thrust of the associated research is in the area of 1 kT system studies, particularly the definition of an optimum antenna array configuration and the study of dynamic range issues given strong man-made and cosmic interference.

In work so far, predictions have been made of how the radio sky might appear at flux density limits 100 times as faint as those of known surveys. In addition, studies are under way of the response functions of large, many-element, interferometers operating in a variety of configurations. By the end of 1998 these two research areas will be combined. Simulated observations of the predicted radio sky will be made for various model telescope array configurations. These studies will be important in determining an optimum telescope design.

A scientific workshop entitled "The Sub-MicroJansky Sky" was held in June 1998 at the ATNF headquarters in Sydney. The scientific goals of the 1 kT were discussed and a summary of how these goals might affect the telescope design process were presented in July 1998 at two major forums: the annual scientific meeting of the Astronomical Society of Australia (Adelaide) and the International Scientific 1 kT Meeting (Calgary, Canada).

Further details on the 1kT telescope project are available from the 1kT Web site.

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This page is maintained by Michelle Storey
Last update by Michelle Storey. 4/11/98


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