We have compiled a catalogue of H ii regions detected with the Murchison Widefield Array between 72 and 231 MHz. The multiple frequency bands provided by the Murchison Widefield Array allow us identify the characteristic spectrum generated by the thermal Bremsstrahlung process in H ii regions. We detect 306 H ii regions between 260° < l < 340° and report on the positions, sizes, peak, integrated flux density, and spectral indices of these H ii regions. By identifying the point at which H ii regions transition from the optically thin to thick regime, we derive the physical properties including the electron density, ionised gas mass, and ionising photon flux, towards 61 H ii regions. This catalogue of H ii regions represents the most extensive and uniform low frequency survey of H ii regions in the Galaxy to date.

We compare first-order (refractive) ionospheric effects seen by the MWA with the ionosphere as inferred from GPS data. The first-order ionosphere manifests itself as a bulk position shift of the observed sources across an MWA field of view. These effects can be computed from global ionosphere maps provided by GPS analysis centres, namely the CODE. However, for precision radio astronomy applications, data from local GPS networks needs to be incorporated into ionospheric modelling. For GPS observations, the ionospheric parameters are biased by GPS receiver instrument delays, among other effects, also known as receiver DCBs. The receiver DCBs need to be estimated for any non-CODE GPS station used for ionosphere modelling. In this work, single GPS station-based ionospheric modelling is performed at a time resolution of 10 min. Also the receiver DCBs are estimated for selected Geoscience Australia GPS receivers, located at Murchison Radio Observatory, Yarragadee, Mount Magnet and Wiluna. The ionospheric gradients estimated from GPS are compared with that inferred from MWA. The ionospheric gradients at all the GPS stations show a correlation with the gradients observed with the MWA. The ionosphere estimates obtained using GPS measurements show promise in terms of providing calibration information for the MWA.

GLEAM, the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA survey, is a survey of the entire radio sky south of declination + 25° at frequencies between 72 and 231 MHz, made with the MWA using a drift scan method that makes efficient use of the MWA’s very large field-of-view. We present the observation details, imaging strategies, and theoretical sensitivity for GLEAM. The survey ran for two years, the first year using 40-kHz frequency resolution and 0.5-s time resolution; the second year using 10-kHz frequency resolution and 2 s time resolution. The resulting image resolution and sensitivity depends on observing frequency, sky pointing, and image weighting scheme. At 154 MHz, the image resolution is approximately 2.5 × 2.2/cos (δ + 26.7°) arcmin with sensitivity to structures up to ~ 10° in angular size. We provide tables to calculate the expected thermal noise for GLEAM mosaics depending on pointing and frequency and discuss limitations to achieving theoretical noise in Stokes I images. We discuss challenges, and their solutions, that arise for GLEAM including ionospheric effects on source positions and linearly polarised emission, and the instrumental polarisation effects inherent to the MWA’s primary beam.

The Murchison Widefield Array is a Square Kilometre Array Precursor. The telescope is located at the Murchison Radio–astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The MWA consists of 4 096 dipoles arranged into 128 dual polarisation aperture arrays forming a connected element interferometer that cross-correlates signals from all 256 inputs. A hybrid approach to the correlation task is employed, with some processing stages being performed by bespoke hardware, based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays, and others by Graphics Processing Units housed in general purpose rack mounted servers. The correlation capability required is approximately 8 tera floating point operations per second. The MWA has commenced operations and the correlator is generating 8.3 TB day−1 of correlation products, that are subsequently transferred 700 km from the MRO to Perth (WA) in real-time for storage and offline processing. In this paper, we outline the correlator design, signal path, and processing elements and present the data format for the internal and external interfaces.

The Murchison Widefield Array is a new low-frequency interferometric radio telescope built in Western Australia at one of the locations of the future Square Kilometre Array. We describe the automated radio-frequency interference detection strategy implemented for the Murchison Widefield Array, which is based on the aoflagger platform, and present 72–231 MHz radio-frequency interference statistics from 10 observing nights. Radio-frequency interference detection removes 1.1% of the data. Radio-frequency interference from digital TV is observed 3% of the time due to occasional ionospheric or atmospheric propagation. After radio-frequency interference detection and excision, almost all data can be calibrated and imaged without further radio-frequency interference mitigation efforts, including observations within the FM and digital TV bands. The results are compared to a previously published Low-Frequency Array radio-frequency interference survey. The remote location of the Murchison Widefield Array results in a substantially cleaner radio-frequency interference environment compared to Low-Frequency Array’s radio environment, but adequate detection of radio-frequency interference is still required before data can be analysed. We include specific recommendations designed to make the Square Kilometre Array more robust to radio-frequency interference, including: the availability of sufficient computing power for radio-frequency interference detection; accounting for radio-frequency interference in the receiver design; a smooth band-pass response; and the capability of radio-frequency interference detection at high time and frequency resolution (second and kHz-scale respectively).

The science cases for incorporating high time resolution capabilities into modern radio telescopes are as numerous as they are compelling. Science targets range from exotic sources such as pulsars, to our Sun, to recently detected possible extragalactic bursts of radio emission, the so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs). Originally conceived purely as an imaging telescope, the initial design of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) did not include the ability to access high time and frequency resolution voltage data. However, the flexibility of the MWA’s software correlator allowed an off-the-shelf solution for adding this capability. This paper describes the system that records the 100 μs and 10 kHz resolution voltage data from the MWA. Example science applications, where this capability is critical, are presented, as well as accompanying commissioning results from this mode to demonstrate verification.

Significant new opportunities for astrophysics and cosmology have been identified at low radio frequencies. The Murchison Widefield Array is the first telescope in the southern hemisphere designed specifically to explore the low-frequency astronomical sky between 80 and 300 MHz with arcminute angular resolution and high survey efficiency. The telescope will enable new advances along four key science themes, including searching for redshifted 21-cm emission from the EoR in the early Universe; Galactic and extragalactic all-sky southern hemisphere surveys; time-domain astrophysics; and solar, heliospheric, and ionospheric science and space weather. The Murchison Widefield Array is located in Western Australia at the site of the planned Square Kilometre Array (SKA) low-band telescope and is the only low-frequency SKA precursor facility. In this paper, we review the performance properties of the Murchison Widefield Array and describe its primary scientific objectives.

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is one of three Square Kilometre Array Precursor telescopes and is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Murchison Shire of the mid-west of Western Australia, a location chosen for its extremely low levels of radio frequency interference. The MWA operates at low radio frequencies, 80–300 MHz, with a processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for both linear polarisations, and consists of 128 aperture arrays (known as tiles) distributed over a ~3-km diameter area. Novel hybrid hardware/software correlation and a real-time imaging and calibration systems comprise the MWA signal processing backend. In this paper, the as-built MWA is described both at a system and sub-system level, the expected performance of the array is presented, and the science goals of the instrument are summarised.

The next generation low-frequency radio telescopes may probe cosmological models by means of observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). I discuss the prospects for observations of CMB imprints —- recombination lines from the epoch of recombination, μ distortions and angular temperature anisotropies —- at low frequencies. A future low-frequency radio telescope, like the proposed SKA, may be capable of attempting some difficult CMB measurements because of the large collecting area and large element numbers; however, this will require a telescope design that will allow specialized calibration strategies and will give emphasis to the control of spurious responses.

The extended radio structures or lobes found in edge-brightened radio galaxies represent interactions with the ambient medium over the source lifetimes. Their study probes the temporal evolution in the radio sources and the properties of the ambient medium encountered at different locations. Previous studies (Leahy & Williams, 1984; Leahy et al., 1989) involved radio galaxies with sizes ≃ 400 kpc, and revealed radio morphologies with a variety of off-axis distortions that could be interpreted as due to different ways in which the lobes interact with the galactic halos. Such studies are lacking for radio galaxies having Megaparsec sizes, which extend to distances well beyond the observed galactic halos and are suspected of evolving in a different regime (Baldwin, 1982). Towards learning the evolution of radio galaxies in this size regime, we have carried out a study of a complete sample of Mpc-size radio galaxies; details are presented in Subrahmanyan, Saripalli & Hunstead (to appear in MNRAS, 1996).

Modeling and simulation of rapid thermal processing has been studied extensively in the past. This work presents the results of a combined simulation and measurement study of a commercial multilamp RTP chamber. The simulations were used to estimate the contributions of different geometrical, material, process, and physical effects on temperature uniformity. The physical effects considered in the simulations included radiation, thermal conduction, transient effects during ramp up and cool down and the effects of patterns on the wafer surface. The effects were corroborated by direct temperature measurements using thermocouple embedded wafers, and the results were used to reliably calculate stress effects. The stress distributions were determined analytically in cases without surface films on the wafer. In the case of wafers with surface films, stress distributions were calculated based on thermal strains. This study allows us to concentrate efforts on increasing temperature uniformity to those areas where the greatest benefits in terms of yield and film uniformity can be obtained.

The application of a damage integral approach which provides numerical accounting of the accumulated fatigue damage in solder joint is reviewed. The instantaneous fatigue damage rate is determined by the solder stress state, temperature and environment using a phenomenological crack growth law. The stress is calculated using state variable constitutive relations for inelastic deformation. The material parameters for the crack growth law are determined from isothermal fatigue data. Representative damage integral calculations are used to illustrate the application of the approach. Finally, the significance of failure criteria on the apparent fatigue life is discussed in terms of the damage integral approach.

In this paper we present recent observational data on the flat spectrum double (1 arcsec.) radio source 1830-211 (Rao and Subrahmanyan, 1988, MNRAS, 231, 229) and discuss why gravitational imaging appears to be the most plausible explanation for its unique nature.

Although current models of galaxy formation differ widely, it seems likely that just prior to their formation, a significant fraction of the matter in the Universe was in the form of neutral hydrogen (HI) clouds at redshifts z greater than about 3, beyond which the quasar density decreases rapidly. In this paper we have taken a semi-empirical approach for estimating values of measurable parameters for a variety of scale sizes and masses expected in the epoch prior to galaxy formation and have compared these with the results of searches made so far.

Consecutive load relaxation tests are performed on a 95 Pb-5 Sn specimen near room temperature, then at 69 ° C and 1°C. The initial relaxation runs at room temperature show evidence of static recovery, which diminishes after a number of load relaxations have been performed. Evidence of grain boundary sliding is also found. The specimen hardens slowly at 69°C, as manifested by successive load relaxation data falling at lower strain rates. At 1°C, the material slowly softens. These temperature effects are believed to result from a dislocation-solute interaction involving tin atoms in the lead matrix.

We observed short duration, narrow band Type IIIb radio bursts that occur just before the onset of a normal Type III burst. These observations were made with a multichannel radiometer with a center frequency of 25 MHz, time constant of 10 milliseconds and frequency resolution of 100 KHz. The average half power duration of a typical element of a Type III burst was determined. It was found to be very similar to the time profile of a normal Type III burst, i.e., sharp rise and exponential type decay. The duration of the exciter, tE, and the decay time constant, τ, determined from the average time profile were 0.88 and 0.31 seconds, respectively. The corresponding quantities for the associated Type III bursts are 6.0 and 2.1 seconds, respectively. It is interesting to note that the ratios are the same, and equal to 0.98. We found that there is no difference between the time profile of a Type III burst associated with a Type IIIb burst and that of an isolated Type III burst. We also found that the two quantities ‘tE’ and ‘ τ ’ are positively correlated in the case of isolated Type III bursts. The linear correlation coefficient is 0.70. This correlation seems to break down in the case of Type III bursts associated with Type IIIb bursts. We looked for a relation between durations of the elements of the Type IIIb bursts and that of the associated Type III bursts, and found that the two quantities are positively correlated. Lastly, we would like to point out that the elements of Type IIIb bursts observed by us are more intense than the associated Type III burst.