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Paper: The Long Wavelength Array
Volume: 345, From Clark Lake to the Long Wavelength Array: Bill Erickson's Radio Science
Page: 392
Authors: Kassim, N.E.; Polisensky, E.J.; Clarke, T.E.; Hicks, B.C.; Crane, P.C.; Stewart, K.P.; Ray, P.S.; Weiler, K.W.; Rickard, L.J.; Lazio, T.J.W.; Lane, W.M.; Cohen, A.S.; Nord, M.E.; Erickson, W.C.; Perley R.A.
Abstract: Application of self-calibration techniques to low-frequency (< 150 MHz) radio interferometric data has enabled high-resolution, high sensitivity imaging at long wavelengths for the first time. We illustrate these advances using NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) 74 MHz images having sub-arcminute resolution and sub-Jansky sensitivity. The VLA 74 MHz breakthrough has inspired the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), a completely electronic array planned to operate in the 20—80 MHz frequency range. It will have close to a square kilometer of collecting area at 20 MHz, milliJansky sensitivity, and arcsecond resolution. The LWA will surpass, by 2—3 orders of magnitude, the power of previous interferometers in its frequency range, and thus open a new window on the electromagnetic spectrum. Key LWA scientific drivers include cosmic evolution, cosmic ray acceleration, and space weather. The LWA will also be versatile instrument for studying radio transient phenomena, which may also include Jupiter-like emission from extra-solar planets. Because the LWA efficiently explores one of the last remaining areas of astrophysical discovery space, new classes of sources and physical phenomena are expected.
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