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| Paper: |
The Allen Telescope Array |
| Volume: |
356, Revealing the Molecular Universe: One Antenna Is Never Enough |
| Page: |
27 |
| Authors: |
Dreher, J. |
| Abstract: |
The ATA will be a massively parallel array of 350 6-m antennas operating from 0.5 GHz to 11.3 GHz. It will be a superb instrument for both surveys and for imaging large, complex sources. By exploiting recent drops in the cost of electronics and by adopting the simplest possible design, the cost of the ATA will be significantly less than that of existing 100-m class telescopes. The ATA offers a very large primary field of view that may be imaged with a spectralline correlator and, at the same time, be studied with 16 dual-polarization pencil beams. The ATA also will have unique capabilities for very high fidelity imaging and for RFI excision. Central to the design is a high performance, yet cost effective, antenna with a Gregorian reflector system, connected to a novel ultrawide-band, log-periodic feed. Analog fiber is used to eliminate most of the electronics that are located at the antennas in more conventional arrays, allowing for a massively parallel signal processing design that offers enormous flexibility. A 42-element version of the ATA will begin observing in 2006. |
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