Recent progress in the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP)

Abstract

The Square Kilometre Array radio telescope (SKA) will be a next generation radio telescope, 100 to 1000 times more sensitive than any telescope currently available. The Australian Government has funded the CSIRO to develop and build the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). This array of 36 antennas will have a total collecting area equivalent to 2% of the full SKA. We describe the ASKAP array, the phased array feed technology and receiver system that will enable ASKAP to observe large fields-of-view and deliver high survey speeds. We also present the project statusand some preliminary results.