Name of the Project
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionisation Array (Hera) project.

Location
The project is located a few kilometres from the MeerKAT radio telescope, at the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) South Africa Losberg site near Carnarvon, in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

Client
In addition to SKA South Africa (SKA SA), the partners in Hera are, in the US, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Arizona State University, Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Washington. In Italy, the partner institution is the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, and in the UK, Cambridge University. South African universities associated with the programme are KwaZulu-Natal, Rhodes, Western Cape, and Witwatersrand.

Project Description
Hera, which forms part of the wider SKA, has been granted the status of an SKA precursor telescope, currently has nineteen, 14 m radio dishes at the SKA South Africa Losberg site. The project entails increasing the number of dishes to 37.

This telescope aims to detect the distinctive signature that will enable astronomers to understand the formation and evolution of the very first luminous sources – the first stars and galaxies in the universe. This is a period scientists call the Epoch of Reionisation.

Hera will operate with minimal man-made radio interference and will explore the billion-year period after hydrogen collapsed into the first galaxies a few hundred years after the Big Bang.

The telescope has a minimalist design, which makes it a relatively inexpensive structure.

As each antenna will point in a fixed direction; they do not have to move around, so no expensive moving parts are required.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
The radio dishes are expected to be in operation by 2018.

Latest Developments
The Hera telescope is creating a favourable impression for the way it has involved the local community and boosted the local economy.   

A construction team of 24 people on site and another three in Cape Town are working on the project.

About one-third of the dishes for the radio telescope have been built.

SKA South Africa senior astronomer working on Hera, Dr Gianni Bernardi ahs explained that the centre piece of each dish is determined by the placement of a concrete hub. These hubs constrain radial polyvinylchloride spars, tensioned into approximate parabolas against a rim, which is supported by telephone poles. Welded mesh panels are installed on the spars to form the reflector surface.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
SKA SA communications manager Lorenzo Raynard, cell +27 71 454 0658 or email lorenzo@ska.ac.za.