Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers, Julia Gillard and John Key, reaffirmed their countries’ strong ties during recent talks in New Zealand. The Prime Ministers met to sign a trade agreement to promote closer economic relations between the two countries.
During the talks, Prime Ministers Key and Gillard praised the Australian and New Zealand SKA (anzSKA) bid to host the SKA which is seen as a good example of strong trans-Tasman economic and social ties.
“Our joint determination to bring the multibillion-dollar Square Kilometer Array radio-telescope project to this part of the world is a great example of how working together strengthens our position internationally.” The Prime Ministers wrote.
The Prime Ministers’ comments have bolstered Australian and New Zealand astronomers who are already working closely together after the successful link up of six radio telescopes across the Tasman Sea. The linked telescopes will make images ten times more detailed than those of the Hubble Space Telescope and has already been used to generate unparalleled images of nearby galaxy Centaurus A.
To read the Prime Ministers' comments, click here.
Image: Potential SKA array station placement in Australia and New Zealand indicating the 5,500km 'baseline' or maximum distance between the array stations.
Credit: CSIRO.