The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) has awarded the 2023 Group Achievement Award to the MeerKAT team.
The MeerKAT telescope is an array of 64 interconnected receptors located 90km outside the town of Carnarvon, Northern Cape.
It is a precursor to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope and will be integrated into the SKA Phase 1 center frequency component.
Observation
In the citation, RAS recognized the MeerKAT team “for a series of spectacular observations in radio astronomy, the highlight of which are images of the Galactic Center region and the spectacular radio bubble”.
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) Khulu Phasiwe said the MeerKAT team has supported the development of science and technology in Africa and stress-tested technology for the SKA.
“The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory wishes to thank the RAS for the extensive recognition of technical and scientific achievements associated with this Group Achievement Award.”
“The MeerKAT project comes from the aspiration to have a South African SKA precursor telescope that will be a powerful instrument in its own right. This award is received with pride as it confirms the success of the aspiration to become a physical reality on African soil,” he said.
MeerKAT is diverse
Phasiwe said the larger MeerKAT team is beyond SARAO, as demonstrated by the various institutions recognized through the award.
“Colleges and partner institutions from around the world have expressed their confidence in MeerKAT by providing instrumentation, software and knowledge to improve the telescope’s capabilities, and the scientific exploitation of the telescope’s capabilities has involved collegial international partnerships.”
“Looking to the future, the success of MeerKAT shows that the scientific and technological prerequisites for the SKA telescope in South Africa are in place. We are excited about the scientific opportunities and discoveries that will arise from the progress from MeerKAT to SKA-Mid, through the extension projects currently underway,” he said .
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