The Mauritius Radio Telescope (MRT) is a synthesis radio telescope in Mauritius that is used to make images of the sky at a frequency of 151.5 MHz. The MRT was primarily designed to make a survey with a point source sensitivity of 150 mJy. Its resolution is about 4 arc min.
Structure
The MRT is a T-shaped array consisting of a 2048m-long East-West arm with 1024 fixed helical antennas arranged in 32 groups and an 880m-long North-South arm with 15 movable trolleys, each containing four antennas.
Project team
The MRT, first commissioned in 1992, is run as a joint project by the University of Mauritius, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and the Raman Research Institute. While first initiated by Prof. Ch.V. Sastry of the IIA, the project was run by Prof. N. Uday Shankar of the RRI for nearly 5 years. The Head of MRT in Mauritius rotates between Dr Nalini Issur, Dr Girish Beeharry and Dr Radhakhrishna Somanah.