Australian Sky & Telescope — January 01, 2018

82 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE January 2018

objectionsexist.Quiteoften,peoplefeel

they’re victims of some government-

fundedchainofeventsthatisbeyond

their control.

In the Great Karoo, construction of

the MeerKAT array — an SKA pathfinder

observatory—iswellunderway.Bythe

endof2017,projectcrewshaderected

64 radio dishes, each 13.5 metres in

diameter. Eventually, MeerKAT will

be incorporated into the much larger

SouthAfricanportionoftheSKA.

SKA SOUTH AFRICA

Outback outreach

The Square Kilometre Array project in South Africa needs local support if it is to succeed.

WOULD YOU SELLyour property to

scientistswhoplantobuildtheworld’s

largestarrayofradiotelescopes?Asa

reader ofAustralianSky&Telescope,

youpossiblymight.Butfarmersinthe

sparsely populated Great Karoo region

inSouthAfricaarenotsokeen.

Most of them are very suspicious

of the plans for the Square Kilometre

Array.Radiogalaxies,pulsarsandthe

epochofreionisationdon’tringabell

with them. Instead, they believe that the

SKAantennaswillcompromisetheir

mobile phone reception. Or, worse, that

themysteriousradiowavesmightcause

cancer. Local opposition to the future

observatoryisfierce—andgrowing.

Gone are the days when an

astronomerwoulddohisresearchatthe

eyepieceofatelescopeinhisbackyard,

asWilliamHerscheldidinthelate

18th century. Scientists are building

ever-largerstructurestostudyboththe

macro- and micro-cosmos. Just think

oftheALMAObservatoryinChile,the

LIGO gravitational-wave detectors, or the

enormous, underground particle-physics

experimentsatCERNinSwitzerland.

Sometimes, protest against such

facilitieshasanenvironmentalbasis.

Endangered species might suffer from

building activities in remote areas, for

example.Inothercases,astheThirty

MetreTelescopeconsortiumdiscovered

onMaunaKea,Hawai‘i,strongreligious

No one had thought about

actively involving landowners

from the very start.

low-frequency facilities will be built,

thingsarebetter.Formanyyears,

astronomershaveworkedclosely with

the Yamatji people who originally

owned the land. Likewise, when the

Low-FrequencyArray—orLOFAR,

consisting of many thousands of

smallantennas—wentupin the

Netherlands, officials organised

‘kitchen table conversations’ with local

farmersovermanyyears,gradually

winning their support.

Knowing how sensitive these issues

can be, astronomers should always

devotealotofattention—and enough

money—tocommunicating their

planstolocalcommunities. Explain

thescience.Beopenandhonest about

a project’s goals and scope. Make clear

that an observatory passively studies the

sky and can’t cause diseases. Above all,

convey your passion for learning about

thewonderfulworldweallinhabit.

These days, public outreach and

educationhavebecomemore important

than ever. I strongly believe that, in the

end, they will always have the potential

to succeed. After all, the urge to marvel

at and understand the universe is truly

universal. I just hope it’s not too late for

SKA South Africa.

„GOVERT SCHILLING’s latest book,

Ripples in Spacetime, on gravitational

waves, was published in July.

The MeerKAT radio telescope, seen here in 2016, will eventually become integrated into South Africa’s portion of the SKA.

FOCAL POINT by Govert Schilling

That is, if enough land can

be acquired, hopefully without

expropriation procedures.

When I visited the site in November

2016, I discussed these issues with SKA

media liaison officer Angus Flowers.

To my astonishment, I learned that

the SKA Organisation had not yet

invited local farmers to the facility. The

nearby town of Carnarvon has held

public hearings, but apparently no one

had thought about actively involving

landowners from the very start and

trying to win their enthusiasm for the

world’s biggest astronomy facility ever.

In Western Australia, where SKA’s