Splinter Meeting SKA

Science with the Square Kilometre Array

Time: Tuesday September 08, 14:00-15:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Room: MW-1050

Convenor(s): Hans-Rainer Klöckner [1], Kristen Lackeos [2], Dominik J. Schwarz [3]
[1] MPIfR, [2] DZA, [3] Uni Bielefeld & VdR

Germany is now a full member of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), which is building two cutting-edge interferometers for the low and mid radio frequency range. In parallel, a German SKA Regional Centre is being built up at the new German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA). It is part of a global network that hosts a platform for processing and analysing SKA data, designed to lower the `barrier to entry' so that astronomers from a range of disciplines can make use of it. Given Germany's growing role in the SKA, in this splinter session we aim to introduce the SKA and the breadth of its science to the whole German astrophysics community, and to welcome everyone keen to get involved in SKA science, from radio astronomers to colleagues interested in SKA from other fields.
We will review the status of the SKA-Low and SKA-Mid construction and commissioning and the timeline to science verification, and present highlights of the science that the SKA will enable, drawing on the new SKA science book (whose contributions are currently under internal review). Connecting the SKA's science cases with the broader astrophysics community will foster new collaborations. Science verification is the SKA's first full end-to-end test, from observing ideas to delivered data, and the last step before the first call for proposals. Beginning in 2027 for SKA-Low and 2030 for SKA-Mid, it is the earliest chance to demonstrate the SKA's scientific capability and shape its first science, so now is the time to get involved.
The session will consist of an invited overview talk on the SKA, its instruments, their construction status and the timeline to science verification, followed by invited science highlight talks on key areas of SKA science and finally a short discussion on how to connect and how to get involved.

Program

Tuesday September 08, 14:00-15:30 Science with the Square Kilometre Array (MW-1050)

Related contributions

PresenterTitleType
Aritra BasuThe MPIfR-MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey: unprecedented insight into the ISMInvited Talk *)
Christina SmithThe SKA Observatory: Current Status, Early Use, and User EngagementInvited Talk *)
Keito WatanabeProbing the High-Energy Universe with Cosmic Rays through SKA-LowInvited Talk *)

*) submitted abstracts, acceptance pending.