Panorama - current proposed site for meerKAT.

MeerKAT
MeerKAT will be one of the world's premier mid-frequency radio astronomy facilities that will put South Africa at the cutting edge of radio astronomy.

The telescope will be constructed in phases to ensure the best value for money and sound technology choices.

The first phase, a one-dish prototype, has already been constructed at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in Gauteng. KAT-7, a seven-dish engineering testbed and science instrument between Carnarvon and Williston in the Northern Cape Province, will be commissioned towards the end of 2009. The full array of 50 or more dishes should be ready to do science by 2012.

A high speed data transfer network will link the telescope site in the Karoo to a remote operations facility. The Karoo region of the Northern Cape Province is ideal for radio astronomy, because it is remote and sparsely populated, with a very dry climate. There is minimal radio frequency interference from man-made sources such as cellular phones, broadcasting and air traffic. MeerKAT science will explore celestial mysteries such as cosmic magnetism, the evolution of galaxies and large-scale structure in the universe, dark matter and the nature of transient radio sources. It will study pulsars and allow scientists to do novel astrophysics and astrobiology experiments.

South African engineers and astronomers are working closely with teams around the world on the cutting edge technology required to make meerKAT work. In South Africa, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory and the South African Astronomical Observatory participate in the meerKAT project. The meerKAT head office is in Pinelands, Cape Town. The
Department of Science and Technology funds meerKAT via the National Research Foundation.The South African government has committed R860 million to the SKA effort in South Africa, which includes the design and construction of meerKAT.