The Square Kilometre Array will be the world's biggest radio telescope. Steven Tingay's research looks at the science and engineering involved in designing the SKA, if Australia's bid for the giant telescope is successful.
Credit: Curtin University of Technology
Astronomy sees the universe as "the ultimate laboratory", says Steven Tingay, a Perth-based astronomer.
Earlier this month, Tingay was part of the delegation that presented Australia's bid for the Square Kilometre Array - a 3,000-antenna array that, when built, will be the world's biggest radio telescope.
He also blogged the bid's progress for Cosmos.
"It was a blast actually, it was really good fun," he says. "We're expecting a decision [on the site] to be made in late February next year."
The deputy director of research at International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Tingay says his decision to study astronomy came at a very early age. "I got interested in space and astronomy at the age of five, when one of my uncles gave me a book of facts about space. It just caught my imagination and it hasn't stopped since."
He was immediately hooked and asked his parents for a telescope when he was six. Years later, his interest led to an honours degree in physics at the University of Melbourne, followed by a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University in Canberra.
A continent-wide telescope
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) has been an important part of his research for over a decade - he headed to the Swinburne University of Technology SKA program for five years before moving to Curtin University in 2007.
His research currently focuses on the science and engineering that will go into designing the SKA, if Australia's bid for the giant telescope is successful.
Apart from designing the telescope, the biggest challenge to making this giant project a reality is the massive amounts of data that will be generated by the SKA, he says. With the SKA approaching 'exaflop' computing requirements (10,000 times faster than the current technology available), it will require new innovations in the way computers handle and process data.
Ilgarijiri - things belonging to the sky
The 2009 International Year of Space gave Tingay a chance to combine the Aboriginal heritage of Western Australia with astronomy, by initiating collaboration between his astronomer colleagues and a group of Yamatji artists from Geraldton.
The proposed Australian site for the SKA project is located 300 kilometres north of Geraldton, an ideal position because of the lack of radio interference.
The site is also on Wajarri Yamatji land, which is rich in indigenous heritage. The astronomers and artists camped on the proposed SKA site and discussed their different perspectives of the night sky around the campfire.
The 30 artists created 150 pieces, using their traditional stories and what they saw and learned on the SKA site as their inspiration. These artworks have been exhibited in Geraldton, Perth, Canberra and Cape Town in South Africa, and will be heading to Washington D.C.
Tingay is currently writing a book describing the collaboration and the artworks. He says it was an interesting connection between the ancient and the modern perspectives and has promoted a better understanding between the astronomers and the Yamatji community.
"It's a really powerful project," he says. "The night sky is part of the shared heritage of all people on Earth."
