1 minute read
The cover
from Contact 05
Front cover: Artistic rendering of the gravitational-wave event GW190814, in which a smaller compact object is swallowed by a nine-times-more-massive black hole. The matter stream between the two objects and the look of the massive black hole are an artistic invention. To the best of our knowledge, the GW190814 fusion is not thought to have emitted any light.
Image credit: Alex Andrix
Contact – The SKA magazine
Contact is the SKA magazine. Published by SKAO's Communications team, the magazine brings together articles from scientists, engineering, design and construction teams, related facilities and telescopes and government partners. In this issue, which marks the magazine’s first anniversary, we dive into the world of gravitational waves and how radio telescopes will use this new window into the Universe. We also look at how skills used in radio astronomy have been used to fight coronavirus in South Africa, and announce the conclusion of all major reviews for SKA prior to construction. Under science news, we look at recent exciting fast radio burst observations, as well as observations of our own star. Last but not least, we remember one of the great pioneers of radio astronomy, who has just passed away.
About Contact
Published by the SKAO Communications team
Editor: William Garnier
Editorial team: Mathieu Isidro, Cassandra Cavallaro
Design: Joe Diamond/Based on an original design from Carbon Creative.
We welcome your contributions to Contact! Email: skao-outreach@skatelescope.org
All images in Contact are courtesy of SKAO unless otherwise indicated.
Contact is produced primarily as a digital magazine.
About the SKA
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation leads an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope. The SKA will be constructed in Australia and South Africa with a later expansion in both countries and into other African countries. Its global headquarters is located at Jodrell Bank in the UK. The SKA will conduct transformational science and help to address fundamental gaps in our understanding of the Universe including the formation and evolution of galaxies, fundamental physics in extreme environments and the origins of life in the Universe.
