First Light for Station V of the Low-Frequency All-Sky Monitor Radio Telescope

Abstract

The Low-Frequency All-Sky Monitor is a radio telescope network consisting of five stations, each with 13 Long-Wavelength Array (LWA) antennas, distributed around the North American continent. The LWA antennas are arranged so as to form a wide-angle drift scan beam, sensitive to bright radio transients, astrophysical and ionospheric, at 10–88 MHz. The multiple stations can reliably verify astrophysical events by simultaneous detection. Adding the fifth station at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI, provides a wider range of declination coverage for the project. Station V, like the previous four stations, was constructed by undergraduate researchers, who continue to operate and manage the telescope. Here we report on Station V’s "first light", and discuss future prospects.