The Murchison Widefield Array: solar science with the low frequency SKA Precursor

TL;DR

The Murchison Widefield Array, a low-frequency radio telescope in Australia, serves as a SKA precursor and enables diverse science including solar imaging, cosmic reionization studies, and time domain astrophysics, with initial results showcased.

Contribution

This paper highlights the MWA's capabilities for solar science and summarizes early results, demonstrating its potential as a SKA precursor for low-frequency radio astronomy.

Findings

Successful solar imaging and characterization of the heliosphere.

Detection of brightness temperature fluctuations related to solar activity.

Validation of the MWA's suitability for solar and space weather studies.

Abstract

The Murchison Widefield Array is a low frequency (80 - 300 MHz) SKA Precursor, comprising 128 aperture array elements (known as tiles) distributed over an area of 3 km diameter. The MWA is located at the extraordinarily radio quiet Murchison Radioastronomy Observatory in the mid-west of Western Australia, the selected home for the Phase 1 and Phase 2 SKA low frequency arrays. The MWA science goals include: 1) detection of fluctuations in the brightness temperature of the diffuse redshifted 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen from the epoch of reionisation; 2) studies of Galactic and extragalactic processes based on deep, confusion-limited surveys of the full sky visible to the array; 3) time domain astrophysics through exploration of the variable radio sky; and 4) solar imaging and characterisation of the heliosphere and ionosphere via propagation effects on background radio source emission. This paper concentrates on the capabilities of the MWA for solar science and summarises some of the solar science results to date, in advance of the initial operation of the final instrument in 2013.