AUT - Welcome to SKANZ 2010
Welcome to SKANZ 2010
Pathways to SKA Science in Australasia
This conference, to be held at AUT University on February 16-18, 2010, aims to highlight recent SKA developments in Australia and New Zealand and to review the main areas of SKA science.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is the next generation radio telescope, planned to probe the Universe at a level of sensitivity and completeness orders of magnitude beyond what has previously been achieved, targeting science ranging from cosmology to extraterrestrial life. It is an international collaborative effort involving astronomers and engineers from 19 countries (see www.skatelescope.org ) On the road to the SKA, a number of pathfinder telescopes are currently being constructed, to prove new technologies for the SKA and, importantly, refine the thinking behind the science goals for the SKA. In particular, the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope (ASKAP) is under construction in Western Australia
(see www.ska.gov.au and www.atnf.csiro.au).
Having the meeting at this time is appropriate to celebrate the signing of the Australia - New Zealand SKA Cooperation Agreement and the commissioning of a new 12m antenna at Warkworth, near Auckland, which it is hoped will be a "path-finder" for further New Zealand involvement in ASKAP and the SKA. It will be a good opportunity to publicise SKA-related developments within Australia and New Zealand and to foster greater involvement in these developments, both science and engineering, especially in New Zealand.
The meeting will include a visit to the Warkworth site followed by wine tasting at a local vineyard. The conference dinner will be in Auckland's famous Sky Tower Observatory restaurant.
An associated Workshop 'VLBI and GNSS: New Zealand and Australian perspectives' will be held on Monday 15 February.
We look forward to welcoming you to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest and most dynamic city.