Jodrell Bank ‘Meet the Expert’ session goes global with SKAO

BY DR HILARY KAY (THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER – UK SKA)

A live link-up across continents allowed SKA-Mid telescope director Dr Lindsay Magnus to take part in a special international outreach event held in the UK in February.

The event linked Dr Magnus and the SKAO’s South Africa office with nearly 100 visitors at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement near Manchester during the UK school holidays, as part of one of the centre’s regular “Meet the Expert” Sessions.

They were treated to an engaging presentation on the global nature of the SKA project, how interferometry works, and why specific locations in South Africa and Australia were chosen to host the SKA telescopes. As ever, the audience had plenty of thought-provoking questions, and not just about the telescopes. They were also interested to know what attracted him to radio astronomy, what a typical day as the SKA-Mid telescope director is like, and how the SKAO is taking the climate emergency into consideration as it builds the next generation of radio telescopes.

“It was an honour to share our journey of what is involved in building transformational telescopes in Southern Africa,” said Dr Magnus. “With hope, the next generation represented at the Jodrell Bank session will continue to build on the foundation.”

The success of the session means the Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement team are looking forward to planning more live link ups with astronomers, scientists, and engineers in unique science locations across the globe.