Dr Chris Pearson

Title: The Square Kilometre Array: Big Data and Transformational Science
Synopsis: The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will become the next generation radio telescope for astronomy. The SKA observatory comprises of two telescope arrays across three continents and when finished in 2029 will be the largest scientific facility in the history of humankind. The SKA will address and answer key scientific questions, ranging from the origins of the structure we see in our Universe today to the cradle and origins of life. Such a large facility will naturally create vast amounts of data, around 10 million Gigabytes per hour of operation, that raises new challenges in engineering and computing. This talk will give an overview into the engineering and computational challenges that need to be met and the transformational science the SKA will deliver.

Bio:
Dr Chris Pearson is head of the Astrophysics programme at RAL Space. His PhD was in “Galaxy Evolution and Cosmology” with Prof. Michael Rowan-Robinson at Imperial College, London and has worked on large galaxy surveys for both ground based telescopes and space borne missions. He worked for 7 years in Japan on the AKARI space telescope before moving to the UK to RAL Space to work on the Herschel Space Observatory. He now works on the ARIEL mission searching for exoplanets and the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope, the largest scientific facility in the history of humankind.