Sites identified for giant telescope

2003-05-21 10:50

Cape Town - Three areas in the Northern Cape have been identified as potential core sites for the construction of the billion-dollar Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the biggest radio telescope in the world.

The sites, each with a diameter of 150km, include an area in the Kalahari, north of Upington; an area in Namaqualand, east of Springbok; and another north of Carnarvon, in the Karoo.

It is not yet known which of the three will finally be chosen for the array, which on completion will be 100 times more powerful than any instrument of its kind.

South Africa is set to submit a bid for the SKA by the end of this month, although a decision on which country will be chosen to host the giant project will only be taken in 2005.

The SKA is the brainchild of an international group of scientists; the project is being managed by an International SKA Steering Committee (ISSC), comprising representatives from the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, China and India.

It is being funded by a consortium of countries and institutions representing all the major players in the international astronomy community.

South Africa has observer status on the ISSC.

'Fairly strong bid'

Briefing MPs on Tuesday, science and technology department director for information management, Imraan Saloojee, said South Africa and Australia were the two front runners in the bid process.

Other strong contenders were US and Mexico.

Saloojee told members of Parliament's art, culture, science and technology portfolio committee that "indications we have from ISSC members is we have a fairly strong bid".

He said the three sites identified had been chosen for their radio quietness - they are all relatively free of TV, radio and cellphone interference, an essential prerequisite for a radio telescope.

The inner core array for SKA - so named because it is made up of numerous separate antennae or dishes, with a total collecting area of one square kilometre - will require an area of land with a diameter of about 20km.

Other dishes will be located further out from the core array. Some will need to be built in other southern African countries, as far away as Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Mauritius and Madagascar.

Responding to members concerns about land claims and heritage sites within the core area, Saloojee said these had been a "very crucial element" taken into account during the preparation of the bid.

"In preparing the initial bid document, we had consultations with the Land Claims Commission and the national heritage organisations to look at questions of sensitive sites, and questions of land claims."

However, the declaration of a 150km diameter zone did not necessarily mean the entire area was going to be fenced off, and people denied access.

"What it means is that you would need to put in place regulations... to restrict the type of activities in the area.

"So people would not necessarily have restricted access to heritage sites," he said.

In April this year, science and technology minister Dr Ben Ngubane said South Africa would benefit to the tune of about $500 million in foreign investment benefits should the bid be successful.

- SAPA