Autumn 2023 MWA update
This diagram plots out all MWA antenna tiles, showing their distance from the centre of the array. For the rest of 2023, we will be operating in the compact mode, which uses the blue tiles only. The extended mode, which we were using before, is the orange tiles plus the original ‘core’ tiles (the random-looking assortment of blue tiles). Credit: Wayth
Getting cosy
The MWA team is preparing once more to reconfigure the telescope, in order to change the way we observe the sky.
The MWA has antenna tiles spread over kilometres across Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. But in the new configuration, called compact mode, we will only be plugging into the tiles closest to the core of the array. This makes the MWA more sensitive to large-scale or diffuse structures in the sky. This is the perfect operating mode for the Epoch of Reionisation science group, who are studying the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang when the first stars and galaxies were formed.
With the MWA’s rapid response time, large field of view and sensitivity in this configuration, compact mode is also excellent for performing sweeping all-sky surveys, monitoring local space weather, and responding to sudden events such as gravitational waves. Our astronomers have just finished submitting their proposals for telescope time in the compact configuration. We look forward to providing them with hundreds of hours of observations in the coming months.
More information on the Epoch of Reionisation and our other key science themes can be found on the MWA website
Making SMART moves
The Southern-Sky MWA Rapid Two-Metre (SMART) pulsar survey is an ongoing project to discover new pulsars (neutron stars) in the southern sky using the MWA. This is the only pulsar survey capable of looking for pulsars in the Southern Hemisphere at low frequencies. Once complete, it is expected to discover hundreds of new pulsars. Apart from its inherent scientific value, it also serves as a valuable reference for future pulsar searches planned with the low-frequency SKA telescope.
More information on the Southern-Sky MWA Rapid Two-Metre (SMART) pulsar survey on the MWA website, and an animated video is here:
Mia Walker, Project Officer, MWA