Murchison Widefield Array (MWA): Features, Objectives & Latest Discovery

Why in News ?

Astronomers recently discovered a new millisecond pulsar using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) under the Southern-sky MWA Rapid Two-metre (SMART) Survey.

Geographical & Institutional Profile 

• MWA is a low-frequency radio telescope located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO), Western Australia.
• It is a collaboration of 20 research institutions from Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States.
• The project is led by Curtin University, Australia.
• It is situated at the future site of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low).

Technological Features

• MWA consists of 4,096 spider-like antennas operating in the 70–300 MHz frequency range.
• It possesses a wide field of view, high angular resolution, nanosecond time resolution, and digital pointing agility.
• These capabilities enable rapid sky surveys and detection of faint transient radio events.

Scientific Importance

• It studies the Epoch of Reionization, when the first stars and galaxies formed.
• It helps examine galaxies, galaxy clusters, cosmic magnetism, and the interstellar medium.
• It monitors solar flares, coronal mass ejections, pulsars, and fast radio bursts (FRBs).

SMART Survey & SKA

• SMART is the only low-frequency pulsar survey in the Southern Hemisphere (140–170 MHz).
• The survey is expected to discover hundreds of new pulsars.
• SKA is an international project to build the world's largest radio telescope, with sites in Australia and South Africa.
• India became a member of SKA in December 2022, and construction began on 5 December 2022.