J. Craig

The LWA1 Radio Telescope

LWA1 is a new radio telescope operating in the frequency range 10-88 MHz, located in central New Mexico. The telescope consists of 258 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 instruments “all dipoles” modes, facilitating all-sky imaging. Notable features of the instrument include high intrinsic sensitivity (≈ 6 kJy zenith system equivalent flux density), large instantaneous bandwidth (up to 78 MHz), and four independently steerable beams utilizing digital “true time delay” beamforming. This paper summarizes the design of LWA1 and its performance as determined in commissioning experiments. We describe the method currently in use for array calibration, and report on measurements of sensitivity and beamwidth.

Design and commissioning of the LWA1 radio telescope

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 about 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 telescopes “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 (≈ 6 kJy zenith system equivalent flux density), large instantaneous bandwidth (up to 78 MHz), and large field of view (about 3-10°, depending on frequency and zenith angle of pointing). This paper summarizes the design of LWAl, its performance as determined in commissioning experiments, and results from early science observations demonstrating the capabilities of the instrument.

Observations of Crab Giant Pulses in 20-84 MHz using LWA1

We report the detection and observed characteristics of giant pulses from the Crab Nebula pulsar (B0531+21) in four frequency bands covering 20-84 MHz using the recently completed Long Wavelength Array Station 1 (LWA1) radio telescope. In 10 hr of observations distributed over a 72 day period in fall of 2012, 33 giant pulses having peak flux densities between 400 Jy and 2000 Jy were detected. Twenty-two of these pulses were detected simultaneously in channels of 16 MHz bandwidth centered at 44 MHz, 60 MHz, and 76 MHz, including one pulse which was also detected in a channel centered at 28 MHz. We quantify statistics of pulse amplitude and pulse shape characteristics, including pulse broadening. Amplitude statistics are consistent with expectations based on extrapolations from previous work at higher and lower frequencies. Pulse broadening is found to be relatively high, but not significantly greater than expected. We present procedures that have been found to be effective for observing giant pulses in this frequency range.

Detection and Flux Density Measurements of the Millisecond Pulsar J2145–0750 below 100 MHz

We present flux density measurements and pulse profiles for the millisecond pulsar PSR J2145–0750 spanning 37 to 81 MHz using data obtained from the first station of the Long Wavelength Array. These measurements represent the lowest frequency detection of pulsed emission from a millisecond pulsar to date. We find that the pulse profile is similar to that observed at 102 MHz. We also find that the flux density spectrum between ≈40 MHz to 5 GHz is suggestive of a break and may be better fit by a model that includes spectral curvature with a rollover around 730 MHz rather than a single power law.

Limits on Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Radio Emission Using the LWA1

As a backend to the first station of the Long Wavelength Array (LWA1), the Prototype All Sky Imager has been imaging the sky > –26° declination during 34 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) between 2012 January and 2013 May. Using this data, we were able to put the most stringent limits to date on prompt low-frequency emission from GRBs. While our limits depend on the zenith angle of the observed GRB, we estimate a 1σ rms sensitivity of 68, 65, and 70 Jy for 5 s integrations at 37.9, 52.0, and 74.0 MHz at zenith. These limits are relevant for pulses ≥5 s and are limited by dispersion smearing. For 5 s pulses, we are limited to dispersion measures (DMs) ≤ 220, 570, and 1600 pc cm–3 for the frequencies above. For pulses lasting longer than 5 s, the DM limits increase linearly with the duration of the pulse. We also report two interesting transients, which are, as of yet, of unknown origin and are not coincident with any known GRBs. For general transients, we give rate density limits of ≤7.5 × 10–3, 2.9 × 10–2, and 1.4 × 10–2 yr–1 deg–2 with pulse energy densities >1.3 × 10–22, 1.1 × 10–22, and 1.4 × 10–22 J m–2 Hz–1 and pulse widths of 5 s at the frequencies given above.