• Scientists in South Africa launched the world’s first optical telescope linked to a radio telescope, combining “eyes and ears” to try to unravel the secrets of the universe.
• The device forms part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project in the remote Karoo desert, which will be the world’s most powerful radio telescope system.
• The latest move combines the new optical telescope MeerLITCH — Dutch for ‘more light’ — with the recently-completed 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, located 200 kilometres away.
• It is housed in a white dome-shaped building made of carbon fibre to protect it against temperature fluctuations in the Karoo desert, which was chosen for its clear skies, dry climate and lack of pollution.
• Among the priorities for MeerLICHT, which cost about $1.1 million, is the study of black holes, neutron stars and stellar explosions, which must be scrutinised quickly before they fade away.
• “The study of exploding stars across the universe will gain a whole new dimension.
• Flashes of radio emission known as Fast Radio Bursts may now be ‘caught in the act.

Source:TH