©Xilostudios The Square Kilometre Array will consist of groupings of smaller antennas spread throughout a continent, such as the group of antennas shown here. The antenna used to collect the incoming radiowaves and are usually, but not always, dish shaped.

Mileura station in Western Australia is one of two proposed sites for the central core of the Square Kilometre Array

If tuning into your local radio station a few suburbs away can be frustrating at times, imagine trying to tune into your local galaxy a few million light years away! Scientists are currently pushing the boundaries of astronomy by attempting to build a telescope to listen to stories broadcasted all the way from the outer reaches of space.

To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee ('That's not a telescope? This is a telescope!'), the aptly named the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will consist of one square kilometre of collecting area, comprised of lots of little antennae spread over 3 000 kilometres.

"To take the next step in astronomy, scientists have to look beyond their borders and take a global approach to building the next generation radio telescope," said Professor John Storey, an astronomer at the University of New South Wales. The project team reads like the United Nations of Astronomy, with more than 30 institutions spanning 15 countries involved. And Aussies are in on the action in a big way.

"Not all telescopes see as we do," explained John. "If astronomers were to look at the universe in the visible spectrum they would only be seeing part of the picture. This is why astronomers use radiowaves to 'see' other interesting things in the universe. These radio sources broadcast all sorts of interesting information for us to investigate."

Astronomers will use the SKA to seek out other Earth-like planets, and to investigate the cosmic evolution of the universe and test the theory of general relativity.

Just as fascinating as the science that will come out of the project is the know-how being developed to build and site in the first place.

The Australian SKA Planning Office falls under the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), and coordinates NSW SKA activities. The ATNF already operate radio telescopes throughout the state are currently investigating new technologies like the New Technology Demonstrator (NTD) project.

The project will demonstrate new technologies in radio observing that should lead into the extended Technology Demonstrator project, which will involve a larger collecting area. Completing these important milestones will help Australia maintain a finger in the SKA technological pie, so to speak.

The big news for the SKA project came in September this year, with Mileura (in Western Australia) and Karoo in South Africa announced as the two short-listed locations. Mileura and Karoo were chosen for their views of the southern sky as well as the stable ionospheric conditions. If Australia is selected, the central collection site will be located in Mileura within a diameter of 5 square kilometres, with further antennas distributed across the continent in sweeping spiral arms that may even reach our Kiwi neighbours in New Zealand.

So another important collaboration for Australia is with the US, on a project to test to radio quietness of the proposed Mileura site, entitled the Low Frequency Demonstrator.

"After all," said John, "the SKA telescope will represent a hundred fold increase in sensitivity, so it is important to place the telescope in a 'radio quiet' zone where man-made radio communication signals will not drown out the faint cosmic radio signals."

The decision on the location of the Square Kilometre Array is expected around 2009 or 2010, with completion and operation expected in 2019. On universal timescales we should be tuning into the cosmic radio waves within the blink of an eye!