Australian scientists draws map of universe using radio telescope

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CANBERRA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists have created a map of about 3 million galaxies in record speed using a radio telescope.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) revealed on Tuesday that using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, researchers were able to map the entire southern sky in 300 hours, creating a new atlas of the universe.

The map, which consists of 903 combined images captured by ASKAP's advanced receivers, includes approximately 3 million distant galaxies, about 1 million of which had never been seen before.

David McConnell, CSIRO astronomer and leader of the project, said it proved that an all-sky survey can be conducted in a matter of weeks rather than years, unlocking opportunities for deep space discoveries.

"This census of the universe will be used by astronomers around the world to explore the unknown and study everything from star formation to how galaxies and their super-massive black holes evolve and interact," he said in a media release.

"For the first time ASKAP has flexed its full muscles, building a map of the universe in greater detail than ever before, and at record speed. We expect to find tens of millions of new galaxies in future surveys."

Larry Marshall, the chief executive of the national science agency, said the project brought together world-class infrastructure with scientific expertise.

"ASKAP is applying the very latest in science and technology to age-old questions about the mysteries of the universe and equipping astronomers around the world with new breakthroughs to solve their challenges," he said.

"It's all enabled by innovative receivers developed by CSIRO that feature phased array feed technology, which see ASKAP generate more raw data at a faster rate than Australia's entire internet traffic." Enditem

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