The square kilometer array (SKA), a new distributed aperture radio telescope scheduled to go into service by 2027, will be sensitive enough to detect commercial television stations from the distance of alpha Centauri.
The telescope gets its sensitivity by combining signals received from a large number of different receiving dishes totaling 300 acres in receiving area. To capture all the possible hints of signals falling on its receivers when it is in operation, the receivers of SKA transmits will more data a second to its central signal processing facility than the combined data traffic rate of the entire internet in 2015.
The telescope gets its sensitivity by combining signals received from a large number of different receiving dishes totaling 300 acres in receiving area. To capture all the possible hints of signals falling on its receivers when it is in operation, the receivers of SKA transmits will more data a second to its central signal processing facility than the combined data traffic rate of the entire internet in 2015.