The world's largest radio telescope will be the subject of a talk given by two local space scientists tonight at St James Cavalier. 

Titled ‘Tuning in to Space’, the talk is being organised by Malta Cafe Scientifique and will see the University of Malta's Alessio Magro and Andrea Demarco discuss the Square Kilometre Array being set up in Australia and sub-Saharan Africa. 

The SKA is the world’s largest radio telescope. Once completed, 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.

Tonight's talk will be held in the Cinema room at St James Cavalier and will begin at 7.30pm.