Array Release 1.5 images taken with MeerKAT 32

​The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, delivered the Budget Vote of the Department of Science and Technology in Parliament on Tuesday, 16 May 2017.

Students sponsored by SKA SA and staff members were invited to attend in the gallery.

Prior to the Budget Vote, the Minister embarked on a tour of the exhibition at the Iziko Museum, where SKA SA joined other exhibitors for the showcase.

During the Minister’s visit to the exhibition, SKA SA Chief Scientist Dr Fernando Camilo and SKA SA Head of Science Commissioning Dr Sharmila Goedhart, released to the Minister the recent AR1.5 results, images achieved by using various configurations of the 32 antennas currently operational in the Karoo. This milestone of the integration of 32 antennas with single polarisation correlator was achieved on schedule by the end of March 2017. The 32 antennas are part of the eventual 64 instruments which are being built at the Losberg site in the Northern Cape.