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Y. M. Pihlstrom (UNM), T. L. Gaussiran (ARL, U. Texas at Austin), P. A. Henning (UNM), W. Junor (LANL), N. E. Kassim (NRL), G. B. Taylor (UNM)
The Long Wavelength Array (LWA) will be a user-oriented aperture synthesis instrument dedicated to explore the frequency regime between 20-80 MHz. The LWA will provide high temporal (millisecond or better) and high spatial resolution (arcsecond) to probe the transient universe at long wavelengths where previous undiscovered classed of emitters, including steep-spectrum sources are expected. The LWA key science areas include cosmic evolution, transient phenomena, solar and exosolar planets, the interstellar medium and ionospheric, solar and space weather sciences. In addition, key goals of the LWA are as a technical training ground for the next generation of radio astronomers and to re-invigorate radio astronomy in the US at the university level.
Great discoveries in astronomy are often enabled by technological advancements, for instance in receiver development or improvements of calibration algorithms. This illustrates the importance of an all-embracing understanding of the field. The science and engineering communities have naturally evolved into more specialized, and separate communities which may lead to a weakening of the communication between the disciplines. The LWA will be operated by the University of New Mexico on behalf of the Southwest Consortium, and will provide a unique opportunity to intermix the engineering and science field already at a student level. In particular, student projects will include design, fabrication, RFI mitigation, observing, software development, and imaging and calibration algorithms.
Basic research in radio astronomy at the Naval Research Laboratory is supported by the Office of Naval Research.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: ylva@unm.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.