The Square Kilometre Array

Abstract

The SKA is a global project to plan and construct the next-generation international radio telescope operating at metre to cm wavelengths. More than 50 institutes in 19 countries are involved in its development. The SKA will be an interferometric array with a collecting area of up to one million square metres and maximum baseline of at least 3000 km. The SKA reference design includes field-of-view expansion technology that will allow instantaneous imaging of up to several tens of degrees. The SKA is being designed to address fundamental questions in cosmology, physics and astronomy. The key science goals range from the epoch or re-ionization, dark energy, the formation and evolution of galaxies and large-scale structure, the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetism, strong-field tests of gravity and gravity wave detection, the cradle of life, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The sensitivity, field-of-view and angular resolution of the SKA will make possible a program to create a multi-epoch data base of wide-angle relative astrometry to a few μas precision for ~10,000,000 radio sources with S > 10 μJy.