Number 15 - September/October 2011 - SKA

NewsletterSeptember/October 2011SKA South Africa shines at the SKAForum 2011 in Banff, Canada 1The road to the final SKA site decision 2More industry contracts for SKASouth Africa 2MeerKAT passes Preliminary DesignReview with flying colours 3PAPER array extended to 64 dishes 3Agreements with INTEL, SEACOM andNOKIA-SIEMENS boost SA’s SKA bid 4Crucial cold receivers successfullyinstalled on KAT-7 4Progress with KAT-7 commissioning 5Control and monitoring upgrades forKAT-7 5On-site UPS for KAT-7 5KAT-7 digital back-end (DBE)acceptance test procedure (ATP) 6Super-realistic MeerKAT movie 6SA promotes the African SKA bid abroad 7SKA SA presentations in London –Youth Day 2011 7Outreach programme hosted at SAAOwins prestigious international award 8Mission MeerKAT – the adventurecontinues 8SKA SA bursar wins top UCTresearch award 8More info on the SKA South Africa Project atwww.ska.ac.zaE-mail: marina@southernscience.co.zato subscribe to this newsletterof the SKA South Africa Project.SKA South Africa shines at theSKA Forum 2011 in Banff, Canada“It was truly a great event and, in some sense,represents the culmination of our efforts overthe last seven years,” Jasper Horrell fromthe SKA South Africa office in Cape Townsummarised the team’s attendance at the SKAForum 2011 in Banff, Canada, held during thefirst week of July 2011. Jasper Horrell andSimon Ratcliffe were part of the SKA SouthAfrica team, who joined representatives fromthe Department of Science and Technology andthe Northern Cape Government.The SKA Forum 2011 was the last majorinternational SKA meeting before the final sitedecision is made in February 2012. As such, itprovided the ideal platform for strategic andscientific discussion on the current state of theSKA, and the efforts of the final two competingproposals.The South African team showed theinternational community that, in addition tohaving the ideal geographical environmentand climatic conditions, the country also hasthe technical capacity, engineeringability and above all, the politicalcommitment to build a worldclass scientific instrument. SouthAfrica put in a strong presence,with presentations by science andtechnology minister Ms NalediPandor, and SKA SA projectdirector Dr Bernie Fanaroff, drivinghome the point that South Africa isnot only ready to host the bid, butthat considerable advances havealready been made with regard tothe infrastructure (such as roads,buildings, optical fibre network andpower lines).According to Minister Pandor, the Africancommitment to hosting the SKA on thecontinent was clear from the financial, political,legal, technical and infrastructural supportgiven by all involved parties.As part of the overall presence in Banff, livedemonstrations were conducted of the KAT-7telescope in operation, including controllingKAT-7 remotely from Banff. The feed from thesite included streaming webcam images, systemhealth and configuration displays, as well asreal-time displays of data from the telescope.“A major highlight of the South Africanteam’s attendance at this event was that therest of the world really sat up and took noticeof our efforts,” said Simon Ratcliffe, praising theteam effort. His words were echoed by JasperHorrell: “By proving the competence of theteam and emphasising the strong support fromgovernment, we have shown without doubtthat Africa is ready to host major scientificinstruments such as the SKA.”The SKA South Africa stand at the SKA Forum 2011 in BanffSKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 20111

The road to the final SKA site decisionAt the SKA Forum 2011 in Banff, the FoundingBoard of the SKA unveiled the process andtimeline for selecting the site that will host thelargest radio telescope array in the world.Since March this year the two candidatesites – South Africa in conjunction with itseight African partner countries (Namibia,Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius,Mozambique and Zambia), and Australiatogether with New Zealand – have beenfinalising their respective site proposals inresponse to a Request for Information (RfI)from the SKA Site Selection Group (SSG).Detailed documentation on all the relevantscientific and technical factors, infrastructurecosts, and legal, environmental and securityissues, were due on 15 September 2011. SouthAfrica submitted its proposal, consisting of a150 page summary report and several thousandpages of supporting documentation, beforethe deadline. Selection factors include levelsof radio frequency interference, the longtermsustainability of a radio quiet zone, thephysical characteristics of the site, data networkconnectivity across the vast distances coveredby the telescope as well as operating andinfrastructure costs.South African Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, addresses a press conference at the SKA Forum 2011“I wish to emphasise the critical urgencyof taking this project beyond conception topractical action,” urged the South AfricanMinister of Science and Technology, NalediPandor, at the SKA Forum 2011, heldin Banff, Canada during July 2011. “Weare keen to move into the design andimplementation phase,” she declared.These submissions will be thoroughlyscrutinised and evaluated by panels of expertsand the independent SKA Site AdvisoryCommittee (SSAC) until November 2011.By the end of this year the SSAC, an externalbody of independent experts, will evaluate thefindings and recommend a preferred site. Theywill present their final reports to the SKA Boardof Directors, which is due to make its final sitedecision in February 2012.More industry contracts for SKA South AfricaThe SKA South Africa project has awarded foursignificant contracts for its KAT-7 and MeerKATprojects:1. EMSS (Electromagnetic Software andSystems, Stellenbosch) were awarded acontract to develop, produce and qualifythe L-band receivers for MeerKAT Phase1. “These receivers are essentially smallhi-fidelity antennas that operate at minus200°C and colder, inside a vacuum vesselwhere the pressure goes down to 0.000000 001 bar and lower,” explains LJ du Toitof EMSS. “It is quite a challenge to get thesensitive electronics in all the antennasworking together under these conditions”.2. MMS, a Centurion-based engineeringcompany, has been awarded a contract toanalyse the MeerKAT antennas structurally– working closely with the electromagneticmodelling experts at EMSS in order tooptimise the mechanical structure andscientific performance of the antennasimultaneously. An important part of theircontract is a curing distortion study toverify that the composite dishes will notdistort on the mould during production.Scale model casts, 3 – 4 m in diameter, willbe prepared to qualify the model. They arealso assessing whether the reflectors forMeerKAT should be made of carbon fibreor fibreglass, and doing a mould design forthe offset MeerKAT reflectors. Surfaceaccuracy of both reflector elements has toconform to very tight tolerances becauseof the requirements of the Gregorian offsetantenna.3. The CSIR has been tasked with qualifyingthe composite materials used for reflectorelements to ensure that these can withstand30 years of service. This work package willconsider structural creep, UV resistance,fungal growth, hail damage, thermal fatigue,and verifying structural properties of thematerial and bonding interfaces. An on-sitewind study has been conducted to evaluatethe predicted wind forces on the antennas,which is important for pointing stability andprotecting the antennas.4. Two contracts were awarded to BAESystems Dynamics (SA). The firstof these was for the development of anelevation load measure system for KAT-7to analyse the loading on the most critical(single point of failure) component of theantenna in order to provide design dataand qualify the leadscrew design for theMeerKAT antennas. The second comprisesoffset antenna concept analyses to completethe preliminary work required to finalisespecifications for the MeerKAT antennas.E-mail: marina@southernscience.co.za to subscribe to this newsletter of the SKA South Africa Project.2SKA South Africa Project OfficeStreet address: 17 Baker St, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South AfricaPostal address: PO Box 522940, Saxonwold, 2132Tel: SKA South +27 Africa (0)11 Project 442 2434 NewsletterSeptember/October 2011The MeerKAT Engineering OfficePostal/Street address: SKA SA, 3 rd Floor, The Park, Park Road, Pinelands, 7405, South AfricaTel: +27 (0)21 506 7300Directions at: http://www.ska.ac.za/contactus/index.php

MeerKAT passes Preliminary Design Review with flying colours“The panel unanimously concludes that the PDR has been successfullypassed and congratulates the project teams.” These were the findings ofthe panel of international experts who conducted the Preliminary DesignReview (PDR) for the 64-dish MeerKAT array during July 2011.The PDR is an important milestone, verifying that the system designsatisfies the system requirements. It establishes the design baseline, fromwhich the requirements of the various subsystems are derived.To give the panel an insight into the geographic location of the telescopein the vast open spaces of the Northern Cape, and to demonstrate theprogress that has been made at the site, they visited the KAT-7 site, as wellas the Losberg complex and the support base at Klerefontein.“We are extremely impressed by the quality of the project team,and the continued tremendous progress in realising KAT-7 and bringingMeerKAT to its current stage,” they declared in their report.The expert review panel was chaired by Marco de Vos (ASTRON,Netherlands), and other attending members were Rick Perley (NRAO,USA), Tim Stevenson (SPDO, UK), Peter Hall (CIRA, Australia), PaulAlexander (Cambridge, UK), and Thijs de Graauw (ALMA, Chile). The panelalso included Dr Yashwant Gupta (GMRT, India) who could not take part inthe visit, but contributed to the PDR via correspondence.PAPER array extended to 64 dishesAfter a very successful deployment, thePrecision Array for Probing the Epoch ofReionisation or PAPER experiment is now aproud 64-antenna array. Collaborators from theUS (National Radio Astronomy Observatoryand Universities of Virginia, Berkeley andPennsylvania) gathered in the Karoo toaccomplish this feat within a mere three weektimeframe.The recent deployment involved theassembly and installation of an additional26 dipole antennas constructed from partsshipped from the USA. New antenna positionswere accurately marked during a previousdeployment, with the array being in a minimumredundancy configuration to optimize imagequality. Subsequently, 100’s of metres ofoverground cables were carefully laid to thecentral computing container in such a way as toavoid cable cross-talk, and simplify the processof array reconfiguration. Furthermore, newanalogue receivers were installed and the digitalbackend was upgraded, featuring a new 64-inputROACH-based correlator.Concurrent with the deployment, twoessential additions were made to the PAPERinfrastructure. Grid electrical power, conditionedvia a UPS system at the KAT-7 site, has nowreplaced a diesel generator. Together with this, afibre optic data cable was installed along a 2 kmtrench to the nearest KAT-7 infrastructure. Thisdata link will enable remote monitoring andpower cycling of the instrument, and also allowdistant scientists to download data fragments inorder to evaluate the instrument’s performancewhilst data is recorded to a bulk storage unitwithin the computing container.“Scientists who will be using PAPER werevery impressed with preliminary imagesfrom the instrument, proving that theKaroo region is ideal for this type ofresearch,” says William Walbrugh, juniorproject manager for PAPER based at theMeerKAT office in Cape Town. “We plan toextend PAPER to 128 antennas by 2013.”Intern technicians from the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory helped to install the new PAPER antennas – theyare (fltr) Monde Manzini, Raphael van Rensburg and Khulekhani Zulu.SKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 20113

Agreements with INTEL, SEACOM andNOKIA-SIEMENS boost SA’s SKA bidOn 26 July 2011 Intel Corporation signeda memorandum of understanding (MoU)with South Africa’s Department of Scienceand Technology (DST) and the MeerKATengineering team. Intel has undertaken to supplyto SKA SA, for a joint evaluation, cutting edge,high-performance computing technologies thatwill be required to capture, process and analysethe vast amounts of data that will be generatedby the SKA and MeerKAT telescopes.Christian Morales, Intel Corporation VicePresident and General Manager for Europe, theMiddle East and Africa, explained: “Intel will beproviding cutting edge hardware and softwarearchitecture and the development toolsnecessary to make this project succeed. Weare looking at providing a flexible architecturethat is capable of evolving in the future anddeveloping a high performance computingsystem that is able to stream and process a hugeamount of data. We will be relying on the bestarchitecture available today with strong capacityand the most efficient energy consumption.”(Source: ITNewsAfrica.com)For instance, the radio telescopes willrequire the latest technology motherboardssupporting massive data rates and fast solidstate drives that make it possible to recordthe data at high throughput rates. Much of thistechnology is in fact still under development.Jasper Horrell, sub-system manager of theMeerKAT Science Processing Team at the SKASouth Africa office in Cape Town that has beenworking closely with Intel, stated: “Intel has fora long time been one of the major players incomputing innovation and their next generationhardware and software continues to reflect thistrend. They are an important partner for SKAprecursor instruments such as MeerKAT.”The Intel technology is currently being usedto develop an ability to deal with so-called“raw voltage data” on KAT-7, itself a precursorto MeerKAT. This raw voltage data is the firststage of digital data that emerges at a very highrate (currently 1.6 GBps) from each antenna.This data stream is diverted into a raw voltageprocessor constructed using Intel technologyas an alternative to the FPGA-based KAT-7Prototype lab system, incorporating Intel solid state disktechnology, used for high speed data capture and streamprocessing.correlator. The raw voltage processor providesa new level of flexibility to the telescope. Forexample, data can be converted to a verylong baseline interferometry (VLBI) format orrecorded to high speed disk with some preprocessingto look for radio transient signalsfrom the universe.The DST and SKA South Africa also recentlysigned MoUs with submarine cable operatorSeacom – to provide connectivity betweenremote SKA stations, as well as with NokiaSiemens Network (NSN) – to model the signaltransport requirements of the SKA telescope.Other key partnerships in support of SKA SAinclude agreements with Eskom and Telkom –for provision of reliable and low-cost electricalpower and data transport.Crucial cold receivers successfully installed on KAT-7On 8 August 2011, all seven dishes of the KAT-7 telescope had beensuccessfully fitted with “cold” radio receivers. These receivers, designedand manufactured by EMSS in Stellenbosch, are cryogenically cooled totemperatures of about 70 Kelvin, or -203 celsius. This significantly lowersthe noise floor of the telescope system, which enables scientists to makeobservations with significantly better sensitivity, thereby “seeing” muchfainter objects than would otherwise be possible.The successful installation of the 7 th cold receiver is a significantmilestone that marks the last major hardware installation effort on KAT-7by the engineering team. It coincides with the formal acceptance of theKAT-7 correlator, which means that KAT-7 is now ready for more in-depthinterferometric commissioning. The Science Processing Team wasted notime to start producing radio images with the new receivers.Feed for cold receivers and dish withfeed mountedKAT-7 LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) temperatures(K) for the period of 9–20 August 2011Apart from the interferometric commissioning work that lies ahead, thesystem engineering team is busy finalising the formal acceptance testing ofphase one of KAT-7. Phase one includes the wideband correlator mode,whereas phase two includes the spectral line mode, tied-array beamformingmode and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). The formalacceptance testing of phase one, together with the as-built, operations,logistic support and maintenance documentation, forms the operationalbaseline of KAT-7, a further significant milestone.“We are extremely proud of the KAT-7 achievements to date”, remarksRichard Lord, KAT-7 system engineer. “This has been a fantastic team effort,involving the on-site technicians, the engineers and commissioners in CapeTown, and subcontracted companies like EMSS and Tellumat. We are lookingforward to start using the telescope for some early science in the nearfuture.”4SKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 2011

Progress with KAT-7 commissioningCommissioning of the KAT-7 telescope is going full steam ahead with sevencold receivers installed and working, the KAT-7 correlator operating incontinuum, and dual polarization mode and fringe stopping now implemented.Baseline solutions, pointing models and Tsys/gain performance for thenew receivers are being determined and detailed beam maps are beingobtained. Science-like data is now being collected in continuum mode, withthe HDF5 data format used for storing visibilities and meta-data beingconverted into a measurement set for end-to-end CASA processing.An exciting achievement occurred in August 2011, when ademonstration image of the galaxy cluster PKS 1610-60.5 was obtained,using the cold receivers on all seven KAT-7 dishes.The main cluster has a combined flux density of ~40 Jy at 1415 MHzwhile the northern component, PKS 1610-60.8, has a flux density of ~3 Jy(Christiansen, et al. 1977 MNRAS, 181, 183). The field was observed withKAT-7 at 1822 MHz with 7 antennas, full polarization, for about 14 hours(10 hours on source).The data, reduced and imaged in CASA by members of the ScienceProcessing Team (Simon Ratcliffe and Ludwig Schwardt), shows the correctsource structure and flux density, 39.7 Jy for the southern source and 2.6 Jyfor the northern (see figure on the right, which shows a comparison betweenthe image presented by Christiansen et al and that generated by KAT-7).Having seven cold receivers has significantly improved the telescope’ssensitivity and the quality of the processed images.(Additional info obtained from article titled “KAT-7 scopes out Centaurus”, Gadgetmagazine, 25 August 2011, http://ht.ly/6cwLk)Control and monitoring upgrades for KAT-7A new set of server computers for KAT-7 wasrecently installed in the computing containerat Losberg, while the project engineers alsofinished refactoring the “fringe finder” CAM(Control & Monitoring) software to be readyfor KAT-7 and to support both the FF correlatorand the KAT-7 correlator.The control room in Cape Town has alsobeen furnished with operator stations, andis being used by telescope commissioningoperators and engineers for remote controlof the KAT-7 telescope in the Karoo. A livewebcam stream from two webcams in theKaroo is streamed to Cape Town so thatoperators, commissioners and engineers canmonitor the real-time antenna movements andactivity on site.With regard to the control and monitoringsoftware, the KAT-7 CAM core software isready and in use. This includes providing aproxy layer for hardware devices, monitoringall sensor points on all devices and storingthese in a monitoring store, providing accessto monitoring data for data augmentationand analysis, raising alarms and notificationswhen things go wrong or when maintenanceis required, webcam streaming to operatorstations, a portal for operator and maintainergraphical user interfaces (GUIs), systemconfiguration and system control.New functionality that will be developed inthe next two years to accommodate MeerKATCAM requirements include an observationframework, task executor and scheduler, subarraymanagement, MeerKAT GUIs, and toolsfor observation preparation management andobservation planning.On-site UPS forKAT-7A significant operational improvement for theKAT-7 telescope has been the switch-overto grid power supplied by ESKOM, the SouthAfrican electrical utility company. Back-up dieselgenerators are available to safeguard againstany potential sustained power outages, but evena very brief power interruption can interruptthe telescope operation and possibly damageits sensitive electronics. That is why a 100kVAUPS (uninterruptable power supply), linked toall seven dishes, was recently installed on site.To avoid causing interference with the telescopeitself, the UPS had to be installed in a speciallyshielded antenna services container.Nadeem Oozeer (commissioning team) and Siphelele Blose (operator) in the KAT-7 remote operator room in Cape Town,looking at a live display of the KAT-7 site in the Karoo (using the webcams on site), as well as at various health and signaldisplays. From this control room, they can also operate the KAT-7 telescope remotely.With this UPS unit and back-up diesel generators in place,the sensitive KAT-7 receivers have a fully conditioned powersupply.SKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 20115

KAT-7 digital back-end (DBE) acceptance testprocedure (ATP)A close-up of one of the Roach II FPGA boards that will be used in the MeerKAT commissioning correlatorThe KAT-7 laboratory correlator (a copy of the actualcorrelator on site to allow for complete testing of thesystem in a controlled environment). This correlator is basedon ROACH I boards.Philip Gibbs testing one of the next generation ROACH II boardsThe correlator is a fundamental element ofthe MeerKAT telescope: It receives the inwardbound sky signals from the individual telescopedishes and converts those analogue signals intodigital signals that the computer can process.It also has to combine the signals from thevarious dishes into a form that can be processedinto radio images for scientific analysis. A keyconcern is that the telescope will be observingvery weak signals, and it is therefore criticallyimportant not to degrade the already weaksignals by adding noise. It is equally importantto ensure that the correlator functionalityachieves optimal signal retrieval. During a recentacceptance test procedure (ATP) process,MeerKAT engineers and scientists made surethat all specifications set for the correlator havebeen met to ensure high signal fidelity, beforeusing the correlator for science observations.Super-realistic MeerKAT movieThe SKA South Africa project office contractedLuma, a Johannesburg-based animation studio,to produce a realistic 3D animation of theMeerKAT telescope as it will appear on-site inthe Karoo when it is completed in 2016. TheLuma team spent two days in the Karoo tophotograph sample images of the actual terrainand vegetation so that they could digitallyrecreate the site as realistically as possible.They used geo-survey data from the MeerKATinfrastructure team to recreate the terrainas a 3D model. “Realism was key throughoutthe project and we were rendering close to160 billion polygons per frame in order topreserve the accuracy and achieve the finallook,” says Paul Meyer, MD for Luma.Download the two-minute MeerKAT movieat http://www.ska.ac.za/media/animations.phpScenes from the MeerKAT animated sequence produced by Luma.6SKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 2011

SA promotes the African SKA bid abroad“Africa is both the cradle of humankind and the continent of the future,and we are confident that we present an outstanding site and thebest home for the SKA,” stated South African Minister of Science andTechnology, Naledi Pandor. She was speaking at a press conference at theWorld Congress of Science Journalists (WCSJ) in Doha, Qatar at the startof July 2011, giving them an insider’s view of Africa’s bid to host the SquareKilometre Array on the continent. SKA South Africa had a significantpresence at the WCSJ, including a display stand and the very popularMission MeerKAT comics.SKA South Africa’s information stand at the WCSJ 2011The SKA SA project office took part in two major internationalscientific conferences recently to create awareness of the SKA andSouth Africa’s participation in the international SKA project, includingthe proposal to host the SKA in Africa. The two conferences were the11 th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU meeting (APRIM 2011) in Thailand (photoabove), and the XXX th URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium(URSIGASS 2011) in Turkey. At the URSI GASS meeting Justin Jonas,Associate Director for Science and Engineering in the SKA South Africaproject office, took over as Chair of Commision J (Radio Astronomy) fromSubramanian Ananthakrishnan of India.SKA SA presentations in London – Youth Day 2011“Revolutionary science on the continent ofopportunity” was the title of a presentation byDr Bernie Fanaroff at the South African HighCommission in London on 16 June 2011 (aspart of the celebration of Youth Day). A packedaudience of scientists, journalists, policy-makersand diplomatic representatives heard aboutrecent achievements in astronomy in SouthAfrica. Attendees included Dr Richard Schilizzi,Director of the SKA Project DevelopmentOffice (SPDO), academics from the Universitiesof Oxford, Cambridge, Southampton, Keele,Manchester and the Open University. ProfessorDavid Cope, Director of the ParliamentaryOffice for Science and Technology, Mr ColinVincent and Mr Simon Berry from the Scienceand Technology Facilities Council, MP Mr NigelEvans, Patron of the All Party ParliamentaryGroup on Space, MP Ms Chinyelu Onwurah,Shadow Junior Minister for Science andTechnology, MP Mr Stephen Mosley, Science andTechnology Select Committee and diplomaticrepresentatives from Germany, France, China,Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia,Australia and New Zealand.Dr Fanaroff showcased the KAT-7 andMeerKAT telescopes and the South Africanproposal to host the SKA. He set out SouthAfrica’s experience in delivering large high-techprojects and explained how iconic projectslike the SKA are attracting young people intoscience and engineering studies. The SouthAfrican government’s commitment to buildinga knowledge economy was illustrated by theinvestment in bursaries for students fromacross Africa. In addition to working with globalindustrial partners, the South Africa SKA bidhas also supported economic development inSouth Africa with emerging clusters of high techcompanies. The exceptional radio quietnessDr Fanaroff in conversation with British MP Mr Stephen Mosleyof the Karoo site, protected by legislation andagreements with broadcasting companies andother radio operators, is a real asset for radioastronomy. Dr Fanaroff explained that SouthAfrica provides real value because less cashspent on infrastructure and operating costsmeans more telescope for the money – a realadvantage in times of tight public budgets.K-9087 [www.kashan.co.za]SKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 20117

Outreach programme hosted at SAAOwins prestigious international awardThe Universe Awareness (UNAWE) programme,with which the SA Astronomical Observatory(SAAO) is intimately involved, has beenhonoured with the Science Prize for OnlineResources in Education (SPORE) award. ScienceMagazine introduced the SPORE award asa means to showcase the best educationalresources that are available on the Internet andto bring them to a wider audience.The prize goes to Dr. Carolina Ödman-Govender, a core developer of the UNAWEprogramme. She has worked in science fordevelopment for many years in the Netherlands,before joining the SAAO and the AfricanInstitute for Mathematical Science (AIMS) in2010. She now holds the position of directorof academic development of the AIMS – NextEinstein Initiative (AIMS – NEI). “One of the keyfeatures of UNAWE is its openness; it is a formof crowd-sourced education. A vast network ofeducators contribute educational materials andresources, which are uploaded to the UNAWEwebsite. They can then be distributed, adaptedand translated for use in other countries”, shesays.UNAWE is an international programme thatuses the beauty and grandeur of the Universeto inspire children aged 4–10 years, particularlythose from an underprivileged background. Theprogramme uses astronomy to cultivate a senseof perspective, foster a global citizenship andstimulate interest in science at a crucial age ina child’s development. The UNAWE websitehosts a vast repository of educational materialsthat are produced by the programme’s networkof almost 500 educators and astronomers in40 countries – one of the biggest internationalnetworks of science educators. UNAWE isa programme endorsed by the InternationalAstronomical Union (IAU). Visit UNAWE atwww.unawe.org.“The web site is intended to give a sense of perspective to everyone who uses it,” saysDr Ödman-Govender. “You can see the universe as a big place and a beautiful place inwhich you fit.”Mission MeerKAT –the adventure continuesIn the third edition of SKA South Africa’spopular comic series, Hannah, the intrepidschool reporter from Carnarvon, explores theinvolvement of our African partners in the SKAproject. Download Mission Meerkat 1, 2 and 3 athttp://www.ska.ac.za/education/mkcartoon.phpSKA SA bursar wins top UCTresearch awardSKA South Africa MSc bursary holder JamesNewling has been awarded a University ofCape Town (UCT) Research Associateshipfor 2011 for his thesis, entitled “NovelMethods of Supernova Classification and TypeProbability Estimation”. His work builds on theprevious research of his thesis supervisor andcollaborators, towards a better understandingof dark energy through observing supernovae.There were only 5 such awards made in thewhole Science Faculty, and James’ is one of onlytwo at the MSc level.His thesis supervisor Prof Bruce Bassett saidthe following about his talented student: “Jamesdid fantastic work for his MSc, leading a teamthat came second overall in the internationalsupernova typing challenge. His research, whichproduced two first author papers, would beenough for a PhD in many places. We wish himthe best with his future studies and expect bigthings!”8SKA South Africa Project NewsletterSeptember/October 2011