Solar Science with the Murchison Widefield Array: Commissioning and Beyond
Abstract
The Murchison Widefield Array is a low frequency radio interferometer operating in the 80-300 MHz range. Located in radio quiet Western Australia, the MWA has been designated to be a precursor for the Square Kilometre Array, to be built at the same site. The MWA comprises 128 elements distributed in a centrally condensed manner over a region 3 km in diameter. The bulk of the construction phase for the MWA is now over and the commissioning process is currently underway. The MWA collaboration includes US, Australian and Indian institutions. The MWA is the first amongst the new generation of radio arrays to achieve high imaging fidelity, simultaneous with high spectral resolution, high temporal resolution, a good angular resolution and broad spectral coverage. These capabilities of the MWA will enable a wide variety of solar science at low radio frequencies. These range from a robust determination of the solar spectral index and its variation to investigations of coronal scattering, polarimetric imaging of type II radio bursts and associated CME plasma, and imaging of type III solar bursts. Data obtained from the 32 element MWA prototype already offer an order of magnitude improvement in imaging dynamic range (Oberoi et al., ApJ, 728, L27, 2011) and represent the state-of-the art in coronal imaging. Here we present some results from the science commissioning phase of the MWA to illustrate the capabilities of the MWA.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFMSH43A2135O
- Keywords:
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- 7534 SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY / Radio emissions;
- 7594 SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY / Instruments and techniques