UK to House Headquarters for World's Largest Radio Telescope

An agreement was signed yesterday by professor Alan Gilbert, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, and Professor Brian Boyle, chairman of the International Square Kilometre Array (SKA) steering committee, locate the headquarters for the world’s largest radio telescope in Britain.

The headquarters is to be based in The University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics.

The not so aptly names Square Kilometre Array is a £1 billion project that endeavours to place thousands of a antennas over thousands of kilometres at an undecided location. Locations being considered at the moment include South Africa and Australia.

Involving astronomers and engineers from 55 different academic institutions in 17 countries the telescope will allow scientists to test Einstein’s theories and map out the magnetic fields of galaxies. The scope is 50 times more sensitive than the current most powerful radio telescope.

Work is scheduled to start in 2012 and to become operational by 2020. The announcement came on the 50th anniversary of the launch by the Soviet Union of Sputnik I.