MWA

Scheduled for commissioning 2013

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is a radically new type of radio telescope, with no moving parts, and dependent on prodigious computer power to create exquisite real-time wide-field images of the radio sky. Observing at frequencies from 80 to 300 MHz and located in the radio-quiet Western Australia Outback, the MWA will observe with unprecedented sensitivity to discover low-frequency radio phenomena that have never been seen before. The MWA is an international project involving a large array of institutions from Australia, U.S., and India. The majority of the Australian funding for the project is via NCRIS and EIF, administered by AAL.

128T The MWA project, through the Australian lead institution for the project, Curtin University, is now fully funded to complete a 128 tile array. The array is due to be fully deployed by the end of 2012. 32T A 32 antenna system was deployed on site during November 2008, using an interim software correlator, and the first astronomical data was acquired. Field integration and commissioning of the 32 antenna system was successfully completed in early 2010 and the Test and Verification Report was accepted by AAL. Key Contact Prof Steven Tingay, Curtin University.

Murchison Widefield Array. Image credit: Photography by Paul Bourke and Jonathan Knispel. Supported by WASP (UWA), iVEC, ICRAR, and CSIRO.