Title :
Australian SKA Pathfinder: A High-Dynamic Range Wide-Field of View Survey Telescope
Author :
DeBoer, David R. ; Gough, Russell G. ; Bunton, John D. ; Cornwell, Tim J. ; Beresford, Ron J. ; Johnston, Simon ; Feain, Ilana J. ; Schinckel, Antony E. ; Jackson, Carole A. ; Kesteven, Michael J. ; Chippendale, Aaron ; Hampson, Grant A. ; Sullivan, John
Author_Institution :
Australian Commonwealth Sci. & Ind. Res. Organ., Epping, NSW, Australia
Abstract :
The Australia SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a new telescope under development as a world-class high-dynamic-range wide-field-of-view survey instrument. It will utilize focal plane phased array feeds on the 36 12-m antennas that will compose the array. The large amounts of data present a huge computing challenge, and ASKAP will store data products in an archive after near real-time pipeline processing. This powerful instrument will be deployed at a new radio-quiet observatory, the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the midwest region of Western Australia, to enable sensitive surveys of the entire sky to address some of the big questions in contemporary physics. As a pathfinder for the SKA, ASKAP will demonstrate field of view enhancement and computing/processing technology as well as the operation of a large-scale radio array in a remote and radio-quiet region of Australia.
Keywords :
astronomical image processing; astronomical telescopes; focal planes; radioastronomy; radiowave interferometers; ASKAP; Australian SKA Pathfinder; Murchison Radioastronomy Observatory; Western Australia; data storage; field of view enhancement; focal plane phased array; high-dynamic range wide-field of view survey telescope; near real-time pipeline processing; radio-quiet observatory; Antenna arrays; Antenna feeds; Australia; Instruments; Large-scale systems; Observatories; Phased arrays; Physics; Pipeline processing; Telescopes; Correlation; focal plane arrays; interferometer; radio astronomy;
Journal_Title :
Proceedings of the IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JPROC.2009.2016516
