‘Tuning in to Space’ is the title of a talk about the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) that Alessio Magro and Andrea Demarco will deliver on Wednesday at 7.30pm in the Cinema room at St James Cavalier, Valletta. It is organised by Malta Cafe Scientifique.

The SKA is the world’s largest radio telescope that is in the process of being set up across thousands of kilometres spread between Australia and sub-Saharan Africa. It will be able to observe all the galaxies in the universe and is expected to revolutionise man’s understanding of the cosmos, and possibly how the universe started.

The Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy (ISSA) at the University of Malta is developing part of the software infrastructure to be used in the project. The data generated by the SKA’s antennas and dishes needs to be processed in real time, on different types of hardware, so that scientists can analyse and interpret it. The hundreds of thousands of components making up the SKA also need to be monitored and controlled in real time, so that any malfunctioning part can be replaced, ensuring that the data chain is not affected as much as possible.

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