Foreword

Welcome to the sixteenth edition of the SKAO magazine, Contact.

Dear reader, you should sit down with a beverage of your choice and enjoy the excellent articles in this, a bumper edition of Contact. I am impressed by the sheer breadth of work delivered by the global SKAO team.

The major focus of this edition is, naturally, the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, which, for the first time in its history, was held in Africa, specifically in Cape Town. With South Africa being the host of one of SKAO’s two telescopes, we took the decision to ensure that the Observatory was well represented at the meeting with the intent of highlighting everything our global partners and we are doing as we build what will be the world’s premier radio astronomy observatory.

Highlights included an impressive pavilion in the exhibition hall (where I am with my wife, Jill, in the image above), which attracted several thousand visitors; the launch of Cosmic Echoes: a Shared Sky Indigenous Art Exhibition, featuring beautiful pieces by local and Indigenous people living close to SKA telescope sites; an excellent day of SKA science featuring an all-female line-up of speakers, coinciding with Women’s Day in South Africa; and outreach activities with undergraduates and high school students featuring Dr Shin’ichiro Asayama’s Table-Top Radio Telescope. In addition, we, along with our colleagues at SARAO, arranged visits to the SKA-Mid/MeerKAT site. The SKAO Communications team visited some of the towns local to the site, meeting young students who we hope will be inspired by the SKAO’s telescope in their backyard, to set them on the path to whatever they dream of being.

While the General Assembly was a major focus for our communications and outreach activities, great progress was being made on the Observatory itself. You can read about the first ‘big lift’ of an SKA-Mid reflector onto its pedestal; about first light from an SKA-Low station and, vitally, the “first fringes” from two SKA-Low stations, a demonstration that, to first order, the system is working as an interferometer. All these milestones stirred me emotionally and I admitted as much to the staff in my weekly update.

As well as the physical milestones, we’ve seen the SKAO membership grow from nine to twelve, with Canada, India and, most recently, Germany becoming Members in the past few months. I’m hoping to see this growth continue in the coming months.

Earlier this month, the SKAO Council held its final meeting of the year in South Africa. It was held in the town of Kimberley, in the Northern Cape province that is home to the SKA-Mid telescope, allowing us to meet and interact with various senior officials of the provincial government. This Council meeting was particularly special as it marked the end of Dr Catherine Cesarsky’s time as chairperson, after seven years of service to the Observatory and the former SKA Organisation. Her leadership has been instrumental in bringing us to where we are today, and we are immensely grateful for her guidance and vision. She will be succeeded in early 2025 by Dr Filippo Zerbi, whom we welcome and congratulate on his appointment.

So, please enjoy this issue, and join me in congratulating the global SKAO team for all they contribute to the project.

PROF. PHILIP DIAMOND, SKAO DIRECTOR-GENERAL