Joint Astrophysical Colloquium
The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA): Revolutionizing Access to the Radio Sky
Fabian Walter (MPIA Heidelberg)
Thursday 26/02/2026 @ 11:30, Sala Antonio Sollima (IV piano Battiferro)
The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) is designed to be a world-leading radio survey telescope and multi-messenger discovery engine in Nevada, observing in the L (0.7-2 GHz) band, with key surveys planned starting in 2029. The survey speed of the DSA-2000 will be unmatched among current or planned radio telescopes. This has been enabled by a design highly optimized for surveys, and by two breakthrough technologies. The first is a low-cost antenna outfitted with ambient-temperature receivers and the second is a new generation of digital back-ends called a "radio camera”. I will discuss the four central science themes addressed by the DSA — multi-messenger astronomy, our cosmic history, time domain astronomy, and the dark sector. Together with other ongoing all-sky surveys, the DSA will have a major impact on multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics, and on the study of our cosmic history. It will deliver science-ready polarimetric, spectrally resolved image cubes, pulsar timing data, and carry out fast time-domain searches, all commensally with unprecedented survey speed.