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Square Kilometre Array
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<p> <a href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Square_Kilometre_Array¶ms=30_43_16_S_21_24_40_E_">30°43′16″S 21°24′40″E / 30.72111°S 21.41111°E / -30.72111; 21.41111</a> </p> <p>The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an <a href="/facts/Intergovernmental_organisation/5ELbyRm6">intergovernmental</a> international <a href="/facts/Radio_telescope/SxIXUowL">radio telescope</a> project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), and headquarters, are located at the <a href="/facts/Jodrell_Bank_Observatory/gfKbHgwr">Jodrell Bank Observatory</a> in the United Kingdom. The SKA cores are being built in the <a href="/facts/Southern_hemisphere/QfJ4z9L5">southern hemisphere</a>, where the view of the <a href="/facts/Milky_Way/ulF6lccN">Milky Way</a> galaxy is the best and <a href="/facts/Radio_interference/gv3DlKNr">radio interference</a> is at its least. </p><p>Conceived in the 1990s, and further developed and designed by the late-2010s, when completed sometime in the 2020s it will have a total collecting area of approximately one <a href="/facts/Square_kilometre/GgoBy690">square kilometre</a>. It will operate over a wide range of frequencies and its size will make it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument. If built as planned, it should be able to <a href="/facts/Astronomical_survey/6BE1V8V6">survey the sky</a> more than ten thousand times faster than before. With receiving stations extending out to a distance of at least 3,000 km (1,900 mi) from a concentrated central core, it will exploit <a href="/facts/Radio_astronomy/TdjF4LgL">radio astronomy</a>'s ability to provide the highest-resolution images in all astronomy. </p><p>The SKAO consortium was founded in <a href="/facts/Rome/bh1Ttx3T">Rome</a> in March 2019 by seven initial member countries, with several others subsequently joining; as of 2021<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Square_Kilometre_Array&action=edit">[update]</a> there were 14 members of the consortium. This international organisation is tasked with building and operating the facility. The project has two phases of construction: the current SKA1, commonly just called SKA, and a possible later significantly enlarged phase sometimes called SKA2. The construction phase of the project began on 5 December 2022 in both South Africa and Australia. </p>