Design and Commissioning of the LWA1 Radio Telescope

Understand

LWA1 is a new large radio telescope array operating in the frequency range 10-88 MHz, located in central New Mexico.

• The telescope consists of 260 pairs of dipole-type antennas whose outputs are individually digitized and formed into beams.
• Simultaneously, signals from all dipoles can be recorded using one of the telescope's "all dipoles" modes, facilitating all-sky imaging.
• Notable features of the instrument include four independently-steerable beams utilizing digital "true time delay" beamforming, high intrinsic sensitivity (about 6 kJy zenith system equivalent flux density), large instantaneous bandwidth (up to 78 MHz), and large field of view (about 3-10 degrees, depending on frequency and zenith angle of pointing).