{"id":38877,"date":"2024-01-03T04:40:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T23:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38877"},"modified":"2025-04-23T21:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T16:23:00","slug":"worlds-largest-radio-telescope-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-project\/","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s Largest Radio Telescope Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in the News?<\/li>\n<li>What is a Radio Telescope?<\/li>\n<li>About Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)<\/li>\n<li>About National Centre for Radio Astrophysics<\/li>\n<li>About Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO)<\/li>\n<li>Key Facts for Prelims<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Scientists in India will now also be part of the international mega-science project, the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), that will function as the world\u2019s largest radio telescope.<\/li>\n<li>India\u2019s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) is amongst the world\u2019s six large telescopes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is a Radio Telescope?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Radio telescopes detect and amplify radio waves from space, turning them into signals that astronomers use to enhance our understanding of the Universe.<\/li>\n<li>All astronomy is about observing waves of light.<\/li>\n<li>Stars, galaxies and gas clouds in space emit visible light as well as light from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in the form of radio waves, gamma rays, X-rays, and infrared radiation.<\/li>\n<li>In its simplest form a radio telescope has three basic components:\n<ul>\n<li>One or more antennas pointed to the sky, to collect the radio waves<\/li>\n<li>A receiver and amplifier to boost the very weak radio signal to a measurable level, and<\/li>\n<li>A recorder to keep a record of the signal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Radio telescopes can be used both night and day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), located near Narayangaon, Pune, is an array of 30 fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45 metre diameter, observing at metre wavelengths.<\/li>\n<li>It is a\u00a0low-frequency radio telescopethat helps investigate various radio astrophysical problems ranging from nearby solar systems to the edge of the observable universe.<\/li>\n<li>The telescope is operated by the\u00a0<u>National Centre of Radio Astrophysics (NCRA)<\/u>. It became operational in the year 2000.\n<ul>\n<li>NCRA is a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>GMRT is one of the most challenging experimental programmes in basic sciences undertaken by Indian scientists and engineers.<\/li>\n<li>Astronomers from all over the world regularly use this telescope to observe many different astronomical objects such as the Sun, Jupiter, exoplanets, magnetically active stars, etc.<\/li>\n<li>In 2021, GMRT became only the third in India to be recognised with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Milestone facility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>National Centre for Radio Astrophysics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics is a research institution in India in the field of radio astronomy.<\/li>\n<li>It is located in the Pune University Campus.<\/li>\n<li>The Centre has its roots in the Radio Astronomy Group of TIFR, set up in the early 1960s under the leadership of Prof.\u00a0Govind Swarup.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>About\n<ul>\n<li>The Square Kilometer Array is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia and South Africa.<\/li>\n<li>It is being built in the southern hemisphere as the view of the Milky Way galaxy is the best and radio interference at its least.<\/li>\n<li>Some of the countries taking part in building the SKA include the UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada, China, France, India, Italy and Germany.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Objective:\n<ul>\n<li>To build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform our understanding of the Universe, and deliver benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Construction\n<ul>\n<li>The project has two phases of construction: the current SKA1, commonly just called SKA, and a possible later significantly enlarged phase sometimes called SKA2.<\/li>\n<li>The construction phase of the project began in December 2022 in both South Africa and Australia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Headquarters: Jodrell Bank Observatory, United Kingdom<\/li>\n<li>India\u2019s Role:\n<ul>\n<li>India, through the NCRA and some other institutions, has been involved in the development of SKAO since its inception in the 1990s.<\/li>\n<li>India\u2019s main contribution to the SKA is in the development, and operation, of the Telescope Manager element, the \u201cneural network\u201d or the software that will make the telescope work.\n<ul>\n<li>NCRA led an international team from nine institutions and seven countries to develop the software.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Countries have to sign, and ratify, the SKAO convention to formally become members.<\/li>\n<li>Recently, the Central Government decided to join the project, with a financial sanction of Rs 1,250 crore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Gravitational Waves<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Gravitational waves are &#8216;ripples&#8217; in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe.<\/li>\n<li>Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity.<\/li>\n<li>Einstein&#8217;s mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (things like neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that &#8216;waves&#8217; of undulating space-time would propagate in all directions away from the source.<\/li>\n<li>These cosmic ripples would travel at the speed of light, carrying with them information about their origins, as well as clues to the nature of gravity itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is the world&#8217;s largest gravitational wave observatory.<\/li>\n<li>LIGO consists of two widely-separated interferometers within the United States\u2014one in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana\u2014operated in unison to detect gravitational waves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1) Is Prison under Concurrent List?<\/h3>\n<h3>Q2) When was first CrPC introduced?<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/another-eye-in-sky-on-ground-india-is-now-part-of-worlds-largest-radio-telescope-project-9092577\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Another eye in sky, on ground: India is now part of world\u2019s largest radio telescope project<\/u><\/a><u>|<\/u> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/giant-metrewave-radio-telescope-gmrt-india-gravitational-waves\/article67026398.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Hindu<\/u><\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skao.int\/en\/about-us\/91\/history-ska-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>SKAO<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Radio telescopes detect and amplify radio waves from space, turning them into signals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}