SKA telescope control system design and status

Sonja Vrcic; Thomas Juerges

doi:10.1117/12.3018723

25 July 2024 SKA telescope control system design and status

Sonja Vrcic, Thomas Juerges

Proceedings Volume 13101, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VIII; 1310103 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018723
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

The SKA Observatory is an international organization whose mandate is to build and operate two multi-purpose radio telescope arrays. The SKA Low Frequency Telescope array, located in the Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia, with the observing range 50 - 350 MHz, will consist of 131,072 log-periodic antennas organized as 512 stations; the maximum distance between two stations is 65 kilometers. The SKA Mid Frequency Telescope array, located in the Karoo region, South Africa, with the observing range 350 MHz - 15 GHz, will comprise 197 offset-Gregorian dishes. The SKA Mid Telescope dishes are 15 meters in diameter, and the maximum distance between two dishes is 150 kilometers. The SKA Global Headquarters is in the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester, UK. The construction of the SKA Telescopes is on the way, including the development of the Telescope Control System. The SKA Observatory, and each of the telescopes, will be delivered in stages, thus supporting incremental development of the collecting area, signal and data processing capacity, and the observing and processing modes. Much of the Control System functionality will be required early in construction to support integration and verification of other systems. This paper provides an overview of the SKA Telescope Control System, including the design patterns and technology choices, summarizes what has been achieved so far, and provides reflections on lessons learned so far.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Sonja Vrcic and Thomas Juerges "SKA telescope control system design and status", Proc. SPIE 13101, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VIII, 1310103 (25 July 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018723

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