PrepSKA III

天文学家正在开发下一代仪器，以探索宇宙的最远距离。为了理解所看到的复杂现象，科学家需要在电磁频谱上进行观察，因为无线电波提供了与毫米/亚毫米，红外，光学或X射线波段不同的物体视图。阿尔马，即阿塔卡马大型毫米阵列，正在智利的安第斯山脉建造;欧洲的光学/红外天文学家正在开发E-ELT，一个42米的望远镜; X射线界正在计划Xeus，一个先进的轨道天文台。在无线电频段，平方公里阵列（SKA）的计划进展顺利。SKA将是有史以来最复杂的科学仪器之一。全面部署后，它将由约4000个天线组成的大陆大小阵列组成，其中孔径阵列组件可提供巨大的视场，工作频率范围为70 MHz至约25 GHz。该阵列将由一个IT基础设施提供支持，该基础设施旨在处理与地球当前互联网流量相当的数据速率。目前正在考虑在澳大利亚和南部非洲设立两个地点。SKA是主要科学仪器中独一无二的，只有通过其分阶段的建设计划才能实现，它将能够在建设中提供开创性的科学。SKA将解决的科学广度确实是非凡的;人们应该把它看作是一台物理机器，而不仅仅是一台望远镜。它将被用来探索当今天体物理学、宇宙学和粒子天体物理学中许多重大的悬而未决的问题。这些包括我们对第一批恒星和星系诞生的理解，对宇宙大尺度结构的研究以及暗能量和热暗物质和冷暗物质的作用。天文学家还将使用SKA来确定广义相对论是否适用于与大质量黑洞相关的强引力场，了解宇宙磁场的起源和演化，并探索银河系其他地方生命所需的条件。在这项提议中，三所大学（剑桥、曼彻斯特和牛津）正在继续其非常成功的技术研发计划（STFC和EC资助的SKA设计研究）。该项目UK-Prep-SKA将与全球SKA预备研究（PrepSKA）完全整合，该研究已获得550万欧元，用于协调19个不同国家正在进行的大规模发展计划，并制定SKA建设和运营的治理结构，法律的框架和采购政策计划。STFC是PrepSKA的协调员。UK-PrepSKA将持续到2012年第一季度，与全球方案相匹配。该项目的主要交付成果是为SKA第一阶段制定详细设计，使合作伙伴能够向政府申请完整SKA前15-20%的建设资金。

Astronomers are developing the next generation of instruments to probe to the furthest reaches of the Universe. To understand the complex phenomena that are seen scientists need to observe across the electromagnetic spectrum since radio waves provide a different view of an object than is seen in the mm/sub-mm, infrared, optical or X-ray bands. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimetre Array, is under construction in the Chilean Andes; Europe's optical/infrared astronomers are developing the E-ELT, a 42m telescope; the X-ray community is planning Xeus, a sophisticated orbiting observatory. In the radio band plans are well advanced for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA will be one of the most complex scientific instruments ever built. It will, when fully deployed, consist of a continent-sized array of ~4000 dishes, with an aperture array component allowing huge fields-of-view, working in the frequency range 70 MHz to ~25 GHz. The array will be supported by an IT infrastructure designed to handle data rates comparable to the current internet traffic of the Earth. Two sites are under consideration, in Australia and Southern Africa. The SKA, uniquely amongst major scientific instruments and only made possible by its phased construction plan, will be able to deliver ground-breaking science while still under construction. The breadth of science that the SKA will address is truly remarkable; one should regard it as a physics machine rather than just a telescope. It will be used to explore many of the major outstanding problems in astrophysics, cosmology and particle-astrophysics today. These include our understanding of the birth of the first stars and galaxies, study of the large-scale structure of the universe and the role of dark energy and hot and cold dark matter. Astronomers will also use the SKA to determine whether general relativity holds in the strong gravitational fields associated with massive black holes, understand the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetism, and explore the conditions required for life elsewhere in our galaxy. In this proposal, three Universities (Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford) are continuing their highly-successful technology R&D programme (the STFC and EC-funded SKA Design Study). The project, UK-Prep-SKA, will be fully integrated with the global Preparatory Study for the SKA (PrepSKA), which has been awarded 5.5M Euros to coordinate the massive development programme underway in 19 different countries and to develop plans for the governance structure, legal framework and procurement policy under which the SKA will be constructed and operated. STFC are the coordinators of PrepSKA. UK-PrepSKA will run until Q1 2012, matching the global programme. The principal deliverable of the project is to develop a detailed design for Phase 1 of the SKA to enable the partners to go to governments for construction funding for the first 15-20% of the complete SKA.