Australia is one of a consortium of six countries planning the world's largest radio telescope, to be built early in the next century. Australia's input is being led by CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF).
The telescope will have an area of a square kilometre or more and be far more powerful than existing radio telescopes, able to see galaxies forming at the edge of the Universe.
Construction will start about 2005 and it will cost of around $A400 million.
ATNF Director Professor Ron Ekers, who leads the Australian effort, said that neither the telescope's site nor its exact design would be decided until 2000.
"This is a true international collaboration, and we will spend a few more years deciding on the technology before we consider where it will go," he said.
Three main ideas have been put forward for the telescope's design.
China favours a set of 30 dishes of 300 to 500 metres in diameter, set into natural depressions in the ground. This is the design of the world's current largest telescope, in Puerto Rico, which is 305 metres across.
Canada has suggested an almost flat telescope surface that sits on ground, reflecting incoming signals up to equipment held kilometres above by balloons.
Australia and the Netherlands are backing a revolutionary flat telescope made up of an array of 'tiles' covering a square kilometre. The radio signals caught by each tile would be brought together and processed by powerful digital technology.
"To keep down the cost for a telescope this big we will have to come up with new technology," said CSIRO's Professor Ekers.
"We want to have a telescope that is both more sensitive than before and can reject radio interference, which is becoming an increasing problem," he said.
"This technology would allow the radio spectrum to be used much more flexibly, for many services, and it would have applications everywhere."
The Australian-backed proposal would be based on a principle used in radio astronomy since its earliest days, called a 'phased array' - which was also used in the Interscan landing system developed by CSIRO.
"Our proposal follows the general trend of technology - away from mechanical systems using tonnes of metal towards silicon-based processing systems that use very little," said Professor Ekers.
The giant telescope design is part of Australia's long-term plan for astronomy in the next century.
The countries in the telescope consortium are Australia, Canada, China, India, The Netherlands and the USA.
More information from Professor Ron Ekers Director, ATNF Ph: 041 963 5905 or (02) 9372 4301 or Helen Sim, ATNF (02) 9372 4251