Related papers: The SKA as a prebiotic molecule detector
Radio wavelength observations of solar system bodies reveal unique information about them, as they probe to regions inaccessible by nearly all other remote sensing techniques and wavelengths. As such, the SKA will be an important telescope…
Over 200 molecules have been detected in multiple extraterrestrial environments, including glycolaldehyde (C2(H2O)2, GLA), a two-carbon sugar precursor that has been detected in regions of the interstellar medium. Its recent in situ…
Preliminary specifications for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) call for 25% of the total collecting area of the dish array to be located at distances greater than 180 km from the core, with a maximum baseline of at least 3000 km. The array…
Any search for present or past life beyond Earth should consider the initial processes and related environmental controls that might have led to its start. As on Earth, such an understanding lies well beyond how simple organic molecules…
We review the current status of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) by outlining the science drivers for its Phase-1 (SKA1) and setting out the timeline for the key decisions and milestones on the way to the planned start of its construction…
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), currently under design, will be a transformational facility for studying the Universe at centimetre and metre wavelengths in the next decade and beyond. This paper provides the current best estimate of the…
The SKA will build upon early detections of the EoR by precursor instruments, such as MWA, PAPER, and LOFAR, and planned instruments, such as HERA, to make the first high signal-to-noise measurements of fluctuations in the 21 cm brightness…
Despite great advances in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System, the evolution of the Earth, and the chemical basis for life, we are not much closer than the ancient Greeks to an answer of whether life has arisen and…
The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) is an international effort to build the world's largest radio telescope, with one square kilometer collecting area. Besides its ambitious scientific objectives, such as probing the cosmic dawn and cradle of…
When completed the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will feature an unprecedented rate of image generation. While previous generations of telescopes have relied on human expertise to extract scientifically interesting information from the…
The magneto-ionic structures of the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and the intergalactic medium are still poorly understood, especially at distances larger than a few kiloparsecs from the Sun. The three-dimensional (3D) structure of…
In the laboratory, the photo-and thermochemical evolution of ices, made of simple molecules of astrophysical relevance, always leads to the formation of semi-refractory water-soluble organic residues. Targeted searches for specific…
The unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution and broad bandwidth coverage of Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio polarimetric observations will allow us to address many long-standing mysteries in cosmic magnetism science. I will…
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Epoch of Reionisation and Cosmic Dawn (EoR/CD) experiments aim to explore the growth of structure and production of ionising radiation in the first billion years of the Universe. Here I describe the…
The recently discovered stellar system, Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1, may be the faintest and densest dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Owing to its close proximity and substantial dark matter (DM) component, Ursa Major III…
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the largest radio telescope ever built, aiming to provide collecting area larger than 1 km$^2$. The SKA will have two independent instruments, SKA-LOW comprising of dipoles organized as aperture…
Radio wavelengths offer the unique possibility of tracing the total star-formation rate in galaxies, both obscured and unobscured. As such, they may provide the most robust measurement of the star-formation history of the Universe. In this…
In this contribution, we aim to summarise the efforts of the Italian SKA scientific community in conducting surveys of star-forming regions within our Galaxy, in the development of astrochemical research on protostellar envelopes and disks,…
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will produce spectroscopic surveys of tens to hundreds of millions of HI galaxies, eventually covering 30,000 sq. deg. and reaching out to redshift z~2. The huge volumes probed by the SKA will allow for some…
Stars at the end of their lives return much of their mass back to the ISM. This process is the main source of dust in the ISM, and potentially a source of large molecules. I discuss several areas where SKA will have major impact on our…