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The Mother of All Deep Space Radio Telescopes Is Going Up in the Nevada Desert
Gizmodo • • technology
Key Points:
- Caltech has finalized design plans for the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA), a massive radio telescope array in Nevada consisting of 1,650 dishes spanning 12 by 10 miles, aiming to survey the cosmos 100 times faster than any existing telescope.
- The DSA will be supported by a supercomputer that processes radio signals into high-resolution images in real-time, eliminating the need to store enormous amounts of raw data and enabling immediate analysis.
- Uniquely, the DSA’s data will be freely accessible to scientists and the public worldwide without proprietary delays, encouraging broad participation in analyzing cosmic radio signals and discoveries.
- Funded by Caltech and the Schmidt Sciences philanthropic effort at an estimated $200 million, the DSA is expected to be completed by 2029, with prototypes already tested in California’s Mojave Desert.
- The DSA is projected to revolutionize radio astronomy by detecting about 1 billion new radio sources, matching the total found by all other radio telescopes combined within its first day of operation.
