VLBI with SKAMPI, the SKA-Mid MPIfR dish demonstrator

Abstract

The SKA-MPIfR telescope (SKAMPI) is a prototype SKA-Mid antenna located at the SKA site in the Karoo Desert, South Africa. It is funded by the Max Planck Society, through the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR), and operated in collaboration with the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO). The first fringe-finding experiments have been conducted with the European VLBI Network and the southern hemisphere Long Baseline Array, connecting SKAMPI with Europe and Australia. Here we present early SKAMPI VLBI mode results in S-Band, including successful fringe detections and evaluating the integration and imaging performances of SKAMPI in observations with the EVN, LBA, and VLBA.

Advancing Astrophysics with the SKA II (AASKAII) outlines the transformative scientific advances that will be enabled by the SKA telescopes. Published in Advancing Astrophysics with the SKA II (AASKAII), 2026 (arXiv:2606.20366). Report-no:AASKAII/Wongphecauxson01