What is the Murchison Widefield Array?
The Murchison Widefield Array is a low-frequency radio telescope in the remote Murchison region of Western Australia. Instead of a dish, it uses thousands of small spider-like antennas spread across the outback.
The telescope is located at the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, now known as Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, on the traditional lands of the Wajarri Yamaji people. The area was chosen because it is extremely radio quiet, with very little interference from phones, radios and television.
The array began operating in 2013 and is led by Curtin University with partners from Australia and other countries.
Looking back in time
The antennas are arranged in groups called tiles, each with 16 antennas. Because the telescope has no moving parts, astronomers point it electronically by combining signals from the antennas.
One of its main goals is to detect signals from the early universe, when the first stars and galaxies began to form. It also studies the Sun, space weather, pulsars and the ionosphere.
The Murchison Widefield Array is a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array, a much larger international radio telescope being built on the same site. Visitors are generally not allowed at the observatory because of the need to keep radio interference to a minimum.
Did You Know?
The array has also been used to track space debris by detecting reflected FM radio signals.