LUNAR webinar, 19th Oct. 2012

Greg Taylor (UNM), on behalf of the LWA collaboration

Science with the Long Wavelength Array

Recording: http://connect.arc.nasa.gov/p6e1uipeoci/

Abstract

The Long Wavelength Array (LWA) will be a new multi-purpose radio telescope operating in the frequency range 10–88 MHz. Scientific programs include pulsars, supernova remnants, general transient searches, radio recombination lines, solar and Jupiter bursts, investigations into the "dark ages" using redshifted hydrogen, and ionospheric phenomena. The first station of the LWA, called "LWA1", is located near the center of the Very Large Array in central New Mexico and has recently begun scientific operations as a stand-alone instrument with collecting area roughly equivalent to a 100m dish. The LWA1 images the sky in real-time using the "transient buffer — narrowband" (TBN) system which is operational with 258 dipoles, and a bandwidth of 70 kHz. The LWA1 can also form up to 4 beams on the sky simultaneously with 16 MHz bandwidth in each of two tunings and full polarization. Early results include observations of pulsars, the Sun, Jupiter and transient sources of unknown origin. The LWA1 is supported by NSF as a University Radio Observatory and as such is open for use by the astronomical community.