Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)

• Context (IE): Union Cabinet approves Rs 1250 Cr for India’s participation in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO).
• SKAO is an international project to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area.
• Headquarters: United Kingdom.
• It is an array of antennas located in South Africa and Australia.
• Objective: Answer key questions in modern astrophysics and cosmology like studying the universe’s history, understanding how galaxies evolve, deciphering the nature of dark matter, etc.
• Member countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the UK.
  • India joined in 2012 as an Associate Member. In 2022, the National Centre for Radio Astronomy, Pune, and SKAO signed cooperation agreements.
  • India is participating through the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• The SKAO will comprise a network of high and low-frequency radio telescopes:
  1. SKA-Low in Australia,
  2. SKA-Mid in South Africa.

Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)

• It is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope array for low frequencies.
• Location: Khodad, 80 km north of Pune, Maharashtra.
• It detects radio waves from celestial bodies with wavelengths of about one meter.
• It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), which is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.