The world's most powerful radio telescope: the Square Kilometre Array

The SKA, which will be split between sites in Australia and South Africa, will peer back into the 'dark ages' of the universe. No one knows what it will find there

" Radio silence in Western Australia for most powerful telescope in history

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a huge project designed to sweep away many of the current roadblocks to astronomical progress. These include searching for the first celestial objects to form in the universe, investigating whether we need to develop a new theory of gravity, and looking for the building blocks of life in space.

After the big bang around 13.8bn years ago, the universe was nothing but a vast cosmic ocean of gas. There were no stars or planets. Nothing was shining and astronomers refer to this time as the dark ages. During this time, matter was gradually pulling itself into the first celestial objects, but no one knows what these objects were.