700,000 new galaxies expected to be found in 2013

London: Astronomers hope that the huge radio telescope facility in Western Australia officially opened earlier this year will help them uncover 700,000 new galaxies in 2013.

They are planning to conduct two surveys named Wallaby and Dingo using the 65m-pound Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (Askap). The telescope, which consists of 36 identical 12 metre-wide dishes that work together as a single antenna, will scan the sky to help provide new clues about galaxy evolution. Located in a remote desert region, 196 miles from the port of Geraldton, Askap will also help astronomers investigate one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: dark energy. Dr Alan Duffy, a member of the Askap team from the University of Western Australia, asserted that Askap surveys would help find more galaxies, further away and be able to study them in more detail than any other radio telescope in the world. The astronomers predict that Wallaby will find an amazing 600,000 new galaxies and Dingo 100,000, spread over trillions of cubic light years of space. The telescope will examine galactic hydrogen gas - the fuel that forms stars - to see how galaxies have changed in the last four billion years. ANI