Talk by Dr Lindsay Magnus at the SuperJEDI conference, July 2013

1. MeerKAT outline
Lindsay

2. The MeerKAT Programme
• Africa will have a legacy of a large radio
telescope.
– Irrespective of the outcome of the SKA site
competition.
– But not independent of the SKA.
– Largest radio telescope in southern hemisphere,
one of the largest in the world.
• MeerKAT is an SKA Precursor.
– Engineering prototype and early science (SKA-
mid “Phase 0”).
– Drive the establishment of the Karoo Radio
Astronomy Reserve.
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3. 3
High Level Specifications
Metric KAT-7 MeerKAT
Flow 1.2 GHz 580 MHz
Fhigh 1.95 GHz 15 GHz
Ae/Tsys 16 m2
/K 200 m2
/K
DRimag 30 dB 60 dB
DRspec 30 dB 50 dB
Xpol -20 dB -25 dB
BW 256 MHz 1 024 MHz
(4 096 MHz)
Nchan 4 096 32 768?
Tint <1 s 0.1 ms

4. Configuration (64 antennas)
4
8 km

5. 5

6. MeerKAT Large Surveys

7. MeerKAT Large Surveys
7
22 countries

8. MeerKAT Phase 1 (2016)
• 64 x 13.5 m gregorian offset antennas
– >> 220 m2
/K (300 m2
/K goal)
• 8 km maximum baseline
– 70 % in < 1km diameter core
• 0.9-1.726 GHz (following ECP)
cryogenic single-pixel receiver (L-
band)
– Multiple feed indexer
• Direct digitization
– DFX architecture

9. Future Phases
• Aspirations (contingent on money
and/or technology availability):
– 580-1000 MHz (UHF-band) – currently
being designed
– 8-14.5 GHz (X/Ku-band)
– 20+ km baselines – possibly use initial
SKA dishes
– 1.5-3 GHz for NanoGrav
– 5-22 GHz wideband receiver
• SKA-mid Phase 1

10. Commissioning and early science
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11. Time Allocated – > 5 years
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Survey L-Band UHF X/Ku-Band
Deep HI 5 000 5 000
Pulsar Timing 7 860
30 Galaxies 6 000
HI Absorption 2 000 2 000
EoR Molecules 6 500
Fast Transients 3 080 ?
Fornax HI 2 450
X/Ku-band Galaxy 3 300
Deep Continuum 1 950
Slow Transients 3 000 ? ?
TOTAL 31 340 7 000 8 800 1 yr = 8 760 hr

12. MeerKAT dish concept
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13. KAT-7
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14. HUDF & NVSS contours

15. NGC 3109 (neutral hydrogen)
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16. 16
Single Baseline OH spectrum

17. Vela Single Pulse Baseband
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18. Other things we do…
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19. Youth into Science & Engineering
• Research chairs
• Visiting / joint professorships
• University grants – support or
lecturers
• Postdoctoral fellowships
• Postgraduate bursaries
• Undergraduate bursaries
• Internships
• Technician training – national
diplomas at universities of
technology
• FET (artisan) training
• Development of astrophysics
and related engineering in
Africa partner states
• Mobility grants
A focused and structured
programme with a pipeline
strategy

20. Opportunities (Students)
Research chair/group/program University Professor
Electromagnetic Systems and
EMI (Electromagnetic
Interference) Mitigation
Stellenbosch Prof. David Davidson
Radio Astronomy Wits Prof. Sergio Colafrancesco
Astrophysics UWC Prof. Roy Maartens
Multi-Wavelength Extragalactic
Astronomy
UCT Prof Claude Carignan
Radio Astronomy Techniques Rhodes Prof Oleg Smirnov
NASSP Multiple www.star.ac.za
SKA Multiple http://www.ska.ac.za/students/
bursaries.php

21. Opportunities (Faculty)
• Science Data Processing
– Developer MeerKAT
• Archiving, Pipelining, Calibration, HPC
– Developer SKA PEP
• Work on developing specifications for SKA
• Commissioning
– Senior scientist
• Can lead commissioning teams with a good knowledge
of the system from hardware through to publishable
science
– Junior/intermediate scientist
• Has worked on radio telescope hardware and data
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