The 21 CentiMeter Array (21CMA), located in China’s Tianshan Mountains, has been officially recognised as an SKA pathfinder telescope by the SKA Observatory.
Originally built in 2004–2006 and recently upgraded, 21CMA operates at 50–200 MHz, overlapping with the frequency range of SKA-Low. The array has collected over 3,000 terabytes of data and developed new digital beamforming technology, already detecting known pulsars.
With its new status, 21CMA will continue to advance low-frequency radio astronomy and contribute to preparations for SKA science, including studies of the Epoch of Reionization. Read the full press release here.
Image The 21 CentiMeter Array consists of 81 pods with 127 log-period antennas. Credit: 21CMA project