HERA telescope shows benefits of radio astronomy in SA – ITWeb

The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionisation Array in the Northern Cape. (Image credit: SARAO)

South Africas Hydrogen Epoch of Reionisation Array (HERA) telescope has attracted over R74 million direct financial investment since 2013.

This is according to the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), which has undertaken a local impact study of SAs hosting of HERA.

The HERA telescope is an array of 350 antennas situated next to the MeerKAT radio telescope on the site that hosts the Square Kilometre Array in the Northern Cape.

HERA is a US-led project that forms part of a large international collaboration representative of institutions from Europe, SA, the UK and US.

The goal is to observe how the first structures formed in the very early stages of the Universe, as the first stars and galaxies lit up space.

Construction of the telescope began in 2015, with the full array reaching completion in 2021.

SARAO managed the construction of the infrastructure in close collaboration with US institutions. The instrument is now undergoing commissioning and validation of its data.

The findings from the financial assessment of the impact study indicate the total direct investment made towards the HERA project is well over R70 million (R74 090 948), which was invested by the three countries from 2013 to 2021.

This represents the annual direct investment towards HERA from all contributing countries. An increase in the direct financial investment is observed from 2015, which marks the start of construction of the instrument in SA.

The maximum annual direct financial investment occurred in 2018 (R23 409 564; ie, 32% of the total direct financial investment) at the peak of the construction efforts, with the annual direct financial investment tapering off as the project neared completion over the period 2019 to 2021, says SARAO.

It notes the findings from the HERA impact study indicate SA received substantial direct foreign investment for construction of the infrastructure.

Most of the investment towards infrastructure went to the Northern Cape, with materials sourced from local suppliers during construction of the infrastructure.

At a regional level, it was found that Carnarvon benefitted most from the investment when compared to other towns in the province.

The findings demonstrate how international investment in astronomy research infrastructure can stimulate economic development to benefit the region closest to the infrastructure.

With a creative approach and some careful considerations, the smaller, less technically stringent projects can be successfully executed (parts manufactured and supplied, labour sourced and managed) all using the resources available in the Northern Cape, says Ziyaad Halday, SARAO project manager for HERA.

This strategy facilitates employment and spending in sectors that are not the provinces main financial drivers, such as mining and agriculture.

South Africa, through SARAO, has contributed significantly to the HERA collaboration by providing the human resources required for managing the project locally, and employing the workers needed for building, operating and maintaining the infrastructure.

Over the course of seven years, SARAO says the construction of HERA on the telescope site has created employment for 24 individuals, who were mostly recruited from Carnarvon.

It says the co-hosting of astronomy infrastructure such as HERA can have additional benefits for local communities through employment opportunities that arise from construction of the instrument to the maintenance needed following the construction phase.

South Africa has become a destination of choice for the hosting of international astronomy infrastructure, says Dr Bonita de Swardt, SARAO programme manager for strategic partnerships for human capital development and author of the report.

This includes smaller astronomy telescopes, instruments and experiments in astronomy that can be easily plugged into the existing infrastructure on operational sites.

HERA represents only one of these co-hosted instruments for an international collaboration of scientists. The impact study shows how SA can benefit from smaller scale, co-hosted instrumentation through business development, to the employment it can create for people living in some of the most impoverished and rural geographical areas in the country.

On a national level, the impact study found there is growing participation of South African researchers in the HERA collaboration.

This was mainly a result of continuous financial support towards masters and doctoral scholarships, in conjunction with the award of postdoctoral research fellowships supported by SARAOs human capital development programme and collaborating universities, the organisation says.

These initiatives were supported throughout the construction of HERA, which has led to increased participation of researchers based at local universities in the collaboration, ensuring SAs representation in world-class research conducted with this instrument, it concludes.

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HERA telescope shows benefits of radio astronomy in SA - ITWeb