The initial image captured by the incomplete SKA-Low telescope, located in Western Australia, has unveiled nearly 100 rare galaxies, signalling an optimistic future for the world’s largest radio observatory. This image was created using only 1,024 out of the planned 131,072 antennas at the site, which occupies Wajarri Yamaji Country, and covers an expanse of sky equivalent to the size of 100 moons.
In this remarkable image, 85 of the brightest identified galaxies are displayed as tiny points of light, each located millions of light-years away and housing supermassive black holes that can be hundreds of thousands to millions of times more massive than our Sun. Dr George Heald, the SKA-Low Lead Commissioning Scientist, expressed his astonishment at the quality of the image, describing it as exceeding initial expectations for such an early-stage version of the telescope. He noted that these bright galaxies represent just a small fraction of what the telescope is capable of revealing.
The SKA telescope operates by merging signals from numerous antennas across a vast area into a unified ‘dish.’ According to Heald, once the telescope is fully operational, it will possess the sensitivity necessary to detect the faintest and most distant galaxies, extending back to the earliest days of the Universe when the first stars and galaxies were formed.
Future projections indicate that studying the same area of the night sky with the completed SKA telescope will uncover over 600,000 galaxies in a single frame. Heald emphasised that achieving such results involves technically challenging work, marking the initial steps towards unlocking groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
The SKA (Square Kilometre Array) Observatory represents a collaborative international initiative to build a radio telescope, with one of its two main installations situated in Australia and the other in South Africa. Dr Sarah Pearce, Director of the SKA-Low Telescope, highlighted the decade-long combined efforts of astronomers, computer scientists, and engineers globally, celebrating the first visual manifestations of the impressive images the SKA-Low will ultimately provide. She conveyed her excitement about the universe being revealed in ways never before imagined.