SKA Observatory

04/09/2026

🌌 Exciting cosmology news involving members of the SKA science community and SARAO's MeerKAT radio telescope!

Astronomers directly detected an extremely faint radio signal from hydrogen gas billions of light years away, demonstrating a powerful new way to map the Universe.

More: https://www.uwc.ac.za/news-and-announcements/news/astronomers-use-meerkat-to-directly-detect-faint-cosmic-hydrogen-signal

South African Radio Astronomy Observatory - SARAO, The University of Manchester, UWC Astrophysics Group, The University of the Western Cape

[READ] An international team of astronomers from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and The University of Manchester has used South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope to directly detect the faint radio emission from neutral hydrogen gas across cosmic distances. The signal, observed from a time when the Universe was several billion years younger than it is today, provides an important demonstration of a technique known as hydrogen intensity mapping.

04/09/2026

🇰🇷 Our Korean partners held a fantastic SKA-Korea summer workshop in August! The event brought together 79 participants, including 42 students, for three days of science, discussions, and community building.

It is great to see how engaged and excited the country's science community is about future opportunities with the SKA telescopes. 🤩

한국천문연구원

01/09/2026

Last chance to visit Cosmic Echoes: A Shared Sky Indigenous Art Exhibition at the Museum of Geraldton in Western Australia! 🇦🇺

Featuring Wajarri Yamaji and South African Indigenous artists, the exhibition explores creativity at the intersection of modern science and ancient wisdom. You can visit it until 6 September.

Not in the area? Explore the exhibition on our website 👉 www.skao.int/en/cosmic-echoes

Cosmic Echoes has been made possible thanks to the support of our partners CSIRO, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory - SARAO and The Wajarri Community Office.

28/08/2026

Our Table-Top Radio Telescope (TTRT) is now being used to train teachers in Ukraine!

Our partner the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) recently ran a training session in Lviv to equip educators with the tools to inspire the next generation of scientists.

The TTRT is a low-cost, homemade device capable of detecting signals emitted by hydrogen gas in our galaxy. 🌌

"Our aim is that trained educators will then train other colleagues in their institutions and beyond, creating this network of knowledge transfer in radio astronomy education throughout Ukraine," says Martin Schwinzerl, a science communication specialist at the DZA.

Read more about the project in our magazine, Contact: https://loom.ly/3KqKWY0

25/08/2026

The SKA telescopes are being built in remote, radio quiet areas in South Africa and Australia, far away from the electrical noise of everyday life. 📞📶

But how do we stop the noise generated by the telescope itself from interfering with astronomical observations?

⚡️That challenge was faced at the SKA-Low central processing facility, Ngurra-Maga, located on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia. It hosts 140 racks of high-performance computing equipment, which generate a lot of electromagnetic noise!

To shield the telescope from that, the entire building functions as a Faraday cage.

People, equipment, power, water and air still need to move in and out. So how do we deal with that?

Find out in Contact magazine 👉 https://loom.ly/Z8I4alE

CSIRO

21/08/2026

We're hiring!

Want to join ? Have a look at our latest vacancies👇

🇿🇦 SKA-Mid Senior Operations Scientist in Cape Town, South Africa
🇬🇧 Junior EMC Engineer in Cheshire, UK
👤 plus several roles across finance and project management.

Check out our recruitment portal for the details 👉 https://loom.ly/EoI9qqg

More roles are advertised via our collaboration partners:
🇦🇺 CSIRO in Australia: https://loom.ly/XuC6i08
🇿🇦 SARAO in South Africa: https://loom.ly/rHNmBIU

CSIRO South African Radio Astronomy Observatory - SARAO

20/08/2026

Several of our senior leaders had the pleasure of meeting Governor-General of Australia Her Excellency The Honourable Sam Mostyn in Canberra last week. 🇦🇺

Our Director-General Prof. Jessica Dempsey, SKAO Chief Scientist Prof. Naomi McClure-Griffiths and SKA-Low Telescope Director Dr Sarah Pearce discussed the current status of the SKAO and its ambitious science goals, Australia's role in the global collaboration, and the importance of leadership opportunities for women in science and technology.

19/08/2026

Catch up on the latest science news from SKA pathfinder and precursor telescopes around the globe!

🧲 ASKAP conducts the largest magnetic survey of the Universe
✨ MeerKAT helps reveal the structure of the Vela Supercluster
🗺️ The WALLABY survey detects 10,000 galaxies as it builds its cosmic atlas (pictured)

Find out more in Contact 👉 https://loom.ly/d4vzj_M

ICRAR, CSIRO, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory - SARAO

Photo credit: N.Deg/Queen’s/Legacy Survey

18/08/2026

🇨🇦 Want to join Team SKA in Canada?

The Canadian SKA Scientist Programme has opened it's third call for applications for two fixed-term positions (up to 5 years) at Canadian universities in 2027.

These positions offer early-career researchers the chance to lead independent research at the forefront of radio astronomy while contributing directly to science with the SKA telescopes.

📝 Apply here: https://loom.ly/ovQpmOU
(Deadline: 6 November 2026)

Read more about the programme in Contact magazine:
👉 https://loom.ly/SJluyxU

15/08/2026

🎁 Want to be in with a chance of winning some SKAO goodies? Got five minutes? Share your views on our magazine, Contact!

If you read Contact already, tell us if you enjoy its content and format. If you don't yet read it, let us know what would tempt you to take a look.

Take the survey here: https://loom.ly/GWZFFhA