The ASKAP team has this week achieved the first 15-baseline observation using six ASKAP antennas and the newly reconfigured hardware correlator at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia.
These six ASKAP antennas – installed with MkI phased array feed (PAF) receivers, and associated digital electronics – is known as the Boolardy Engineering Test Array (BETA), an engineering testbed for commissioning activities that helps the team prepare for the full fit-out of ASKAP.