MWA radio telescope expansion complete—Exploration of the universe’s first stars begins

When and how were the first stars in the universe born? The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in the desert of Western Australia, one of the largest of its kind, was constructed to clarify this and many other mysteries. The MWA is an international radio-astronomy project conducted by seven countries including Japan and Australia. In Japan, Kumamoto University (main), Nagoya University, Kagoshima University, University of Tokyo, Tohoku University, and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan are participating in the effort. Construction to increase the sensitivity of the MWA began in 2016, and was completed in October of this year (2017). The antennas were doubled in number to 4,096 over a 5 km2 area, which greatly improved the sensitivity of the telescope. The upgraded MWA will seek answers to mysteries of the universe that began 13.7 billion years ago.