Astronomical potential

The Square Kilometre Array is a global endeavour that could transform how science is done

Among rust-red sand dunes in Murchison, a remote corner of the Australian outback, something out of this world is happening. Murchison is home to the Earth’s oldest confirmed impact site—the 2.2-billion-year-old Yarrabubba crater—and is one of two main locations where the world’s biggest scientific instrument is to be built.

The Square Kilometre Array is a radio telescope project that will use thousands of dishes and up to a million antennas in Australia and Africa, coordinated from headquarters at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK, to collect data from distant stars. This will allow researchers to probe questions about gravity, black holes and even extraterrestrial life.