As the weather starts to warm I find myself spending more time outdoors, observing the wonders of nature and admiring our night sky. I also find myself wondering: How do we really know what’s going on with celestial objects above? Especially with phenomena that might otherwise be invisible. Our friends at the SKA Observatory are providing answers.

The SKA Observatory, also known as the SKAO, is using cutting-edge technology including some of the fastest supercomputers in the world to study the universe in exquisite detail using radio telescopes. Radio telescopes are essentially large antennas that detect and analyze radio waves emitted from objects in space including stars, galaxies, and matter falling towards black holes. Once the radio waves are collected, they’re then digitized and analyzed.

Next Generation Radio Astronomy

Instead of a single large antenna collecting data, an array of antennas uses a technique called interferometry. Aperture synthesis is a type of interferometry that digitally connects telescopes in different locations together so they act as one. Antenna arrays using aperture synthesis provide much greater capability and versatility than what would be possible with a single antenna.

The SKAO is building the two largest radio telescope arrays in the world:  one located in Australia (SKA-Low) and the other in South Africa (SKA-Mid). They will cover two different frequency ranges.

SKA-Low is an array of 131,072 tree-like antennas standing at 2m tall with a frequency range of 50 MHz to 350 MHz. This type of wire antenna is more efficient at lower frequencies than traditional dish antennas and are combined with state-of-the-art back-end technology, which makes them incredibly powerful. SKA-Low antennas do not physically move, instead they use a technique called beamforming to digitally point at different parts of the sky.

SKA-Mid is an array of 197 fully steerable 15 m-diameter dish antennas with a frequency range of 350 MHz to 15.4 GHz. Each dish’s surface is made up of 66 individual panels that must be adjusted to sub-millimeter precision; essential for ensuring the radio waves are collected and don’t bounce off the surface. The radio wave is focused into a receiver that transforms it from analog to digital, enabling it to be transported via optical fiber to a signal processing facility, and onwards for data processing.

Together, SKA-Low and SKA-Mid will enable astronomers to see the sky in detail not previously possible with radio astronomy. The SKA telescopes will:

• improve image resolution to see objects in more detail.
• improve sensitivity allowing detection of fainter objects.
• provide a larger field of view by looking in different directions concurrently for faster survey speeds.

The potential for new discoveries and exploration of the unknown could completely revolutionize our understanding of the universe. That’s pretty exciting! Early scientific operations are estimated to begin in 2028-2029.¹

Connecting Data from the Cosmos

The SKAO employs reliable, high-performance interconnects to transport large amounts of “big data” efficiently. Interconnects are needed on the antennas themselves and in server/processing rooms at critical junction points.

Samtec is honored that several of our interconnects were selected for the SKA Observatory. SKAO, thank you for letting us be a part of this exciting journey!

Selected Samtec parts include:

• ECUO – FireFly™ Active Optical Cable Assembly
• ERM8/ERF8 – Edge Rate™ Connectors
• FQSFP/ARF6 – Flyover® AcceleRate® Slim Cable Assembly
• QSFPC – Flyover® QSFP Cage
• EBTM/EBTF – ExaMAX® High-Speed Backplane
• QMS/QFS – Rugged Q2™ Connectors
• PET/PES – PowerStrip™ Connectors
• MMCX – Micro-miniature RF Connectors
• MCX – Miniature RF Connectors
• SMA – Subminiature RF Connectors
• UPS/UPT – PowerStrip™ Connectors
• IP5/IJ5 – IsoRate® RF Connectors
• TMM – Low-profile Connector
• SSW – Tiger Buy™ Socket Connector
• MECF – Mini Edge Card Connector
• IPL1 – Mini Mate® Connector

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Around 100 organizations across ~20 countries have participated in design and development of the SKA project over the last 10 years. Details are available from the SKAO Partners page.

This blog was originally posted on the Samtec website. The original blog can be found here.

REFERENCES

1. Cooper, Keith. “SKA Observatory (SKAO): A guide to the soon-to-be largest radio telescopes in the world.” Space.com, 9 February 2023.