Australian Scientists creating Google Map of Universe.
                     AUSTRALIAN SCIENTISTS CREATING 
GOOGLE MAP OF UNIVERSE
INTRODUCTION
 On its first all-sky survey, the Australian Square 
Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a powerful 
telescope built and run by the country's CSIRO research 
agency, mapped over three million galaxies in a 
remarkable 300 hours. 
Source: businessinsider.com
FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY
 The initial findings of this survey were published on 
30 November in the journal Publications of 
Australia's Astronomical Society.
 ASKAP surveys are designed to map the structure 
and evolution of the Universe, which it does by 
observing galaxies and the hydrogen gas that they 
contain.
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WHAT IS ASKAP?
 ASKAP is a telescope designed over a decade ago and 
located about 800 km north of Perth. 
 It became fully operational in February 2019 and is 
currently conducting pilot surveys of the sky before it 
can begin large-scale projects from 2021 onward. 
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PANORAMIC IMAGES
 One of its most significant characteristics is its large 
field of view, which has allowed it to capture panoramic 
images of the sky in great detail. 
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RADIO CAMERA
 In order to reach high survey rates, the telescope 
uses novel technologies developed by CSIRO, which 
is a kind of 'radio camera' and consists of 36 dish 
antennas, each 12 m in diameter. 
Source: sciencenews.com
COMPLETE MAP OF THE SKY
 The survey team was able to view over 83 per cent of 
the sky visible from ASKAP's site in Western Australia 
using this telescope at CSIRO's Murchison Radio-
astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Outback Australia. 
 It merged over 903 images to form the complete map 
of the sky for the current survey.
Source: thesun.com
GOOGLE MAP OF THE UNIVERSE
 The ASKAP telescope's latest Quick ASKAP Spectrum 
Survey (RACS) is like a "Google map" of the Universe, 
where distant galaxies are the bulk of millions of star-
like stars, about a million of which have not been seen 
before. 
 Mapping the Universe on such a scale helps researchers 
to study star formation and how galaxies evolve and 
interact with each other and their supermassive black 
holes. 
Source: theguardian.com
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESULTS
 Significantly, on average, the images taken by the 
telescope are darker and have higher spatial resolution 
relative to those taken during other sky surveys. 
 The aim of the RACS survey is to produce photographs 
to support future surveys carried out using the 
telescope.
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RADIO TELESCOPES
 In addition, for the construction of the Square 
Kilometre Array (SKA), an international initiative 
aimed at constructing the world's largest radio 
telescopes, the results of different surveys carried 
out using ASKAP are also being used.
Source: www.britannica.com
RESULT OF THE SURVEY
 For two major factors, the findings of this survey are 
important. 
 First the time it took for ASKAP to map the Universe reveals 
that it doesn't have to take years
 Secondly, the data obtained as a result of the survey can 
enable astronomers to conduct predictive analysis of large 
galaxy populations. 
Source: indianexpress.com