Dean of Science Professor Tony Booth formally launched the Rhodes University Transient Array Radio Telescope (TART) on the Waainek (Makhanda) website final week.
The constructing and deployment of a TART at Rhodes University is a collaborative effort between Rhodes University, the University of Otago, and Stellenbosch University.
The TART design for a extremely low-cost, open-source 24-element radio interferometer was initially developed by Dr Tim Molteno and his group on the University of Otago to offer a test-bed for creating and testing state-of-the-art calibration and imaging algorithms for radio astronomy.
This initiative originates from early brainstorming in 2021 between SKA Research Chair (Centre for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies) Professor Oleg Smirnov, Physics Lecturer at Rhodes University Dr Stanley Kuja, Rhodes University Mathematics Lecturer Dr Patrice Okouma, and University of Otago Senior Lecturer of Physics Dr Tim Molteno.
This mission additionally has the complete help of the Head of the Physics & Electronics Department at Rhodes University, Professor Makaiko Chithambo, and Chief Technologist on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and Rhodes University Physics Professor Justin Jonas.
Dr Kuja, as mission lead engineer, oversaw the set up and testing of the TART with the help of two sensible younger graduates, Rikus Human from Stellenbosch University and Sonia Ghosh from the Raman Institute in India, who’s presently an intern at Rhodes University.
A specific innovation of the Rhodes University group was the format of this model of the TART, which consists of 24 movable antennas mounted alongside three beams organized within the form of a Y. This format echoes the long-lasting Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope (New Mexico, US), each within the form and reconfigurability.
TART as a instructing software
At Rhodes University, the TART will present a wonderful platform for scholar coaching, analysis in machine learning, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) metrology, and group engagement within the type of STEM consolidation for Makhanda’s schoolgoers as a collateral profit.
In addition, the TART will give Rhodes University college students early publicity to the whole worth chain of the SKA. The SKA is a big long-term worldwide science and know-how mission through which South Africa has the lion’s share.
Until recently, the standard immersion of arithmetic and laptop science graduate college students into engineering has been minimal. The full deployment of a TART at Rhodes University will present an avenue towards a holistic immersion into analysis and growth early on.
Continuous analysis and growth on the digital programs of the TART current additional coaching alternatives for employees and graduates and pathways in the direction of costing the present capital expenditure on TART, together with operational prices. In the present setup, Rhodes University provides the required infrastructure (electrical energy, web, and a safe website at Waainek), managed by the Director of the Centre of Biological Control (CBC), Professor Martin Hill and the Waainek Research Facility Manager, Samella Ngxande-Koza.
Tlaba Mochebelele is Rhodes University’s first postgraduate scholar to work on information from the Waainek TART and its pathfinders at Stellenbosch University and the University of Otago.
According to Dr Okouma, “This setup will lay the ground for the intake of more postgrad students since TART provides data of significant value for testing various mathematics-based algorithms for radio interferometry as well as full-fledged state-of-the-art techniques in Machine Learning.”
The low-cost however highly effective capabilities of {the electrical} elements of the TART prolong the alternatives for the “break and rebuild” electronics strategy for instructing and learning functions. “Since radio frequency interference (RFI) is a major concern in radio astronomy, intelligent techniques in characterising RFI at the Waainek site can be transferred to the SKA-MeerKAT project,” stated Dr Kuja.
“It’s a perfect instrument for learning and experimentation,” stated Prof Smirnov in regards to the TART. “Our South African flagship, MeerKAT, can be a little intimidating for students – competition for time is stiff, data volumes are huge, and the instrument itself is at a remote Karoo site. The TART is right here; it is very hands-on, and data is freely available to all.”
Hands-on experimentation presents a robust coaching expertise for all ages. In the case of TART, radio interferometry and its congruent fields current a flexible operational panorama for the learning expertise in any respect levels for any learner excited by science.
Caption: (L-R) Dr Stanley Kuja, Professor Tony Booth, Professor Oleg Smirnov and Sonia Ghosh.