The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is a joint project between MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is one of the largest and most diverse astrophysical institutions in the world, where scientists carry out a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics, earth and space sciences, and science education...

, the Raman Research Institute

Raman Research Institute

Raman Research Institute is a research institute in Bangalore, India. It was started by Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman.The main areas of research are:*Astronomy and Astrophysics*Liquid Crystals*Theoretical Physics*Optics...

 and an Australian consortium of universities, to build a low-frequency radio array operating in the frequency range 80-300 MHz. The main scientific goals of the MWA are to detect neutral atomic Hydrogen emission from the cosmological Epoch of Reionization, to study the sun/heliosphere/ionosphere, and to study radio transient phenomena. The MWA is the first so-called large-N array, fully cross correlating signals from 512 phased tiles of 16
crossed dipole (each). The field of view is large by the standard of astronomical instruments, being on the order of 30 degrees across.

The MWA is located near Boolardy

Boolardy

Boolardy Station is a remote sheep station in the north-west of Western Australia, about 194 km north-north-east of Pindar and 200 km west-south-west of Meekatharra. It is within the Shire of Murchison and situated on pastoral lease no. 3114/406 . The area of the lease is .An area of within the...

 station in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO). The MRO is also the site of CSIRO's Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder

Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, or ASKAP, is CSIRO’s new radio telescope currently under construction at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Mid West region of Western Australia...

(ASKAP) and one of two candidate sites for the Square Kilometre Array

Square Kilometre Array

The Square Kilometre Array is a radio telescope in development which will have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre. It will operate over a wide range of frequencies and its size will make it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument...

(SKA). In addition to the geographic link, the MWA is a technology and science pathfinder for the SKA.