‘Are we alone in the universe?’: Work begins in Western Australia on world’s most powerful radio telescope

The construction of the world's largest radio astronomy observatory began in Australia.

One of the biggest scientific projects of this century is the SKA. It will allow scientists to look at the beginning of the universe. It will be used to investigate dark energy and the universe's expansion.

The SKA will involve two telescopes array, one on Wajarri country in Western Australia, and the other on the other side of the world.

SKA-low is named for it's sensitivity to low frequencies. It will map the sky 135 times faster, and it will be eight times more sensitive.

There will be another array of traditional dishes in South Africa.

The director general of the SKA Organisation, Prof Philip Diamond, and the Australian minister of industry and science, Ed Husic, are expected to mark the start of construction on Monday.

The biggest question of all is if we are alone in the universe, because the SKA telescopes will be sensitive enough to detect an airport radar on a planet circling a star.

Scientists describe the SKA as a major milestone in astronomy research and a game-changer.

Prof Lisa Harvey- Smith, an astronomer at the University of New South Wales, said that it was a momentous day for global astronomy and that each person would be proud of their achievement.

When the first stars in the universe were forming, Dr Danny Price said the SKA would allow them to peer back billions of years.

The sensitivity of the SKA could detect a mobile phone in the pocket of an astronauts on Mars. If there are intelligent societies on nearby stars with technology similar to ours, the SKA could detect the aggregate leaking radiation from their radio and telecommunication networks, which would be the first telescope sensitive enough to achieve this feat.

Prof Alan Duffy is the director of the space technology and industry institute at the Swinburne University of Technology.

The science goals are as broad as the telescope itself, from searching for planets and signs of alien life, to mapping out the Cosmic web of dark matter and the growing of galaxies within those vast universe-spanning filaments.

The biggest discoveries by the next- generation telescopes are not known to science. Astronomers around the world will be celebrating this breakthrough for what it will mean for the future of science.

The SKA Organisation is building and operating telescopes in Australia.