Characterizing The Murchison Widefield Array Beam Pattern

By Altair Engineering Inc

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope was constructed as a precursor to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. This case study focuses on this electronically steered phased array, where steering is achieved by introducing phase delays to each element in the array. The primary beam patterns in phased array antennas must be accurately known in order to correctly calibrate and image the data collected by the radio telescope. Download the case study for the full story on how FEKO was vital in overcoming the challenges associated with characterizing the MWA beam pattern.