scholarly journals The POlarised GLEAM Survey (POGS) I: First results from a low-frequency radio linear polarisation survey of the southern sky

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Riseley ◽  
E. Lenc ◽  
C. L. Van Eck ◽  
G. Heald ◽  
B. M. Gaensler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Frequency Component ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
First Results ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Murchison Widefield Array ◽  
Using Data ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Right Ascension

AbstractThe low-frequency polarisation properties of radio sources are poorly studied, particularly in statistical samples. However, the new generation of low-frequency telescopes, such as the Murchison Widefield Array (the precursor for the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array) offers an opportunity to probe the physics of radio sources at very low radio frequencies. In this paper, we present a catalogue of linearly polarised sources detected at 216 MHz, using data from the Galactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array survey. Our catalogue covers the Declination range –17° to –37° and 24 h in Right Ascension, at a resolution of around 3 arcminutes. We detect 81 sources (including both a known pulsar and a new pulsar candidate) with linearly polarised flux densities in excess of 18 mJy across a survey area of approximately 6 400 deg2, corresponding to a surface density of 1 source per 79 deg2. The level of Faraday rotation measured for our sources is broadly consistent with those recovered at higher frequencies, with typically more than an order of magnitude improvement in the uncertainty compared to higher-frequency measurements. However, our catalogue is likely incomplete at low Faraday rotation measures, due to our practice of excluding sources in the region where instrumental leakage appears. The majority of sources exhibit significant depolarisation compared to higher frequencies; however, a small sub-sample repolarise at 216 MHz. We also discuss the polarisation properties of four nearby, large-angular-scale radio galaxies, with a particular focus on the giant radio galaxy ESO 422–G028, in order to explain the striking differences in polarised morphology between 216 MHz and 1.4 GHz.

scholarly journals The POlarised GLEAM Survey (POGS) II: Results from an all-sky rotation measure synthesis survey at long wavelengths

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Riseley ◽  
T. J. Galvin ◽  
C. Sobey ◽  
T. Vernstrom ◽  
S. V. White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Source Population ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Radio Pulsars ◽  
Extragalactic Source ◽  
Rotation Measure ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Magnitude Improvement

Abstract The low-frequency linearly polarised radio source population is largely unexplored. However, a renaissance in low-frequency polarimetry has been enabled by pathfinder and precursor instruments for the Square Kilometre Array. In this second paper from the POlarised GaLactic and Extragalactic All-Sky MWA Survey-the POlarised GLEAM Survey, or POGS-we present the results from our all-sky MWA Phase I Faraday Rotation Measure survey. Our survey covers nearly the entire Southern sky in the Declination range $-82^\circ$ to $+30^\circ$ at a resolution between around three and seven arcminutes (depending on Declination) using data in the frequency range 169−231 MHz. We have performed two targeted searches: the first covering 25 489 square degrees of sky, searching for extragalactic polarised sources; the second covering the entire sky South of Declination $+30^\circ$ , searching for known pulsars. We detect a total of 517 sources with 200 MHz linearly polarised flux densities between 9.9 mJy and 1.7 Jy, of which 33 are known radio pulsars. All sources in our catalogues have Faraday rotation measures in the range $-328.07$ to $+279.62$ rad m−2. The Faraday rotation measures are broadly consistent with results from higher-frequency surveys, but with typically more than an order of magnitude improvement in the precision, highlighting the power of low-frequency polarisation surveys to accurately study Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. We discuss the properties of our extragalactic and known-pulsar source population, how the sky distribution relates to Galactic features, and identify a handful of new pulsar candidates among our nominally extragalactic source population.

scholarly journals Polarized point sources in the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: A preliminary catalog

2018 ◽  
Vol 613 ◽  
pp. A58 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Van Eck ◽  
M. Haverkorn ◽  
M. I. R. Alves ◽  
R. Beck ◽  
P. Best ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Source Surface ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Region 10 ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Right Ascension

The polarization properties of radio sources at very low frequencies (<200 MHz) have not been widely measured, but the new generation of low-frequency radio telescopes, including the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR: a Square Kilometre Array Low pathfinder), now gives us the opportunity to investigate these properties. In this paper, we report on the preliminary development of a data reduction pipeline to carry out polarization processing and Faraday tomography for data from the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey (LOTSS) and present the results of this pipeline from the LOTSS preliminary data release region (10h45m–15h30m right ascension, 45°–57° declination, 570 square degrees). We have produced a catalog of 92 polarized radio sources at 150 MHz at 4.′3 resolution and 1 mJy rms sensitivity, which is the largest catalog of polarized sources at such low frequencies. We estimate a lower limit to the polarized source surface density at 150 MHz, with our resolution and sensitivity, of 1 source per 6.2 square degrees. We find that our Faraday depth measurements are in agreement with previous measurements and have significantly smaller errors. Most of our sources show significant depolarization compared to 1.4 GHz, but there is a small population of sources with low depolarization indicating that their polarized emission is highly localized in Faraday depth. We predict that an extension of this work to the full LOTSS data would detect at least 3400 polarized sources using the same methods, and probably considerably more with improved data processing.

The GLEAM 4-Jy Sample: The brightest radio-sources in the southern sky

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S356) ◽  
pp. 375-375
Author(s):  
Sarah White
Keyword(s):  
Radio Emission ◽  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Relativistic Jets ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Murchison Widefield Array ◽  
Past Activity

AbstractLow-frequency radio emission allows powerful active galactic nuclei (AGN) to be selected in a way that is unaffected by dust obscuration and orientation of the jet axis. It also reveals past activity (e.g. radio lobes) that may not be evident at higher frequencies. Currently, there are too few “radio-loud” galaxies for robust studies in terms of redshift-evolution and/or environment. Hence our use of new observations from the Murchison Widefield Array (the SKA-Low precursor), over the southern sky, to construct the GLEAM 4-Jy Sample (1,860 sources at S151MHz > 4 Jy). This sample is dominated by AGN and is 10 times larger than the heavily relied-upon 3CRR sample (173 sources at S178MHz > 10 Jy) of the northern hemisphere. In order to understand how AGN influence their surroundings and the way galaxies evolve, we first need to correctly identify the galaxy hosting the radio emission. This has now been completed for the GLEAM 4-Jy Sample – through repeated visual inspection and extensive checks against the literature – forming a valuable, legacy dataset for investigating relativistic jets and their interplay with the environment.

scholarly journals The Murchison Widefield Array Commissioning Survey: A Low-Frequency Catalogue of 14 110 Compact Radio Sources over 6 100 Square Degrees

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Hurley-Walker ◽  
John Morgan ◽  
Randall B. Wayth ◽  
Paul J. Hancock ◽  
Martin E. Bell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flux Density ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Angular Resolution ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Reduction Strategy ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Field Boundaries ◽  
Murchison Widefield Array ◽  
Finding Method

AbstractWe present the results of an approximately 6 100 deg2 104–196 MHz radio sky survey performed with the Murchison Widefield Array during instrument commissioning between 2012 September and 2012 December: the MWACS. The data were taken as meridian drift scans with two different 32-antenna sub-arrays that were available during the commissioning period. The survey covers approximately 20.5 h < RA < 8.5 h, − 58° < Dec < −14°over three frequency bands centred on 119, 150 and 180 MHz, with image resolutions of 6–3 arcmin. The catalogue has 3 arcmin angular resolution and a typical noise level of 40 mJy beam− 1, with reduced sensitivity near the field boundaries and bright sources. We describe the data reduction strategy, based upon mosaicked snapshots, flux density calibration, and source-finding method. We present a catalogue of flux density and spectral index measurements for 14 110 sources, extracted from the mosaic, 1 247 of which are sub-components of complexes of sources.

scholarly journals Using low-frequency pulsar observations to study the 3-D structure of the Galactic magnetic field

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (S333) ◽  
pp. 151-156
Author(s):  
C. Sobey ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Efficient Method ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Galactic Magnetic Field ◽  
Fractional Bandwidth ◽  
Murchison Widefield Array

AbstractThe Galactic magnetic field (GMF) plays a role in many astrophysical processes and is a significant foreground to cosmological signals, such as the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), but is not yet well understood. Dispersion and Faraday rotation measurements (DMs and RMs, respectively) towards a large number of pulsars provide an efficient method to probe the three-dimensional structure of the GMF. Low-frequency polarisation observations with large fractional bandwidth can be used to measure precise DMs and RMs. This is demonstrated by a catalogue of RMs (corrected for ionospheric Faraday rotation) from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), with a growing complementary catalogue in the southern hemisphere from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). These data further our knowledge of the three-dimensional GMF, particularly towards the Galactic halo. Recently constructed or upgraded pathfinder and precursor telescopes, such as LOFAR and the MWA, have reinvigorated low-frequency science and represent progress towards the construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will make significant advancements in studies of astrophysical magnetic fields in the future. A key science driver for the SKA-Low is to study the EoR, for which pulsar and polarisation data can provide valuable insights in terms of Galactic foreground conditions.

scholarly journals Astrometry and Geodesy from VLBI

1993 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 159-171
Author(s):  
C. Ma ◽  
J. L. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Terrestrial Reference Frames ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Celestial Reference Frame ◽  
Right Ascension ◽  
Better Than

Dual frequency Mark III VLBI observations acquired since 1979 by several geodetic and astrometric observing programs have been used to establish precise celestial and terrestrial reference frames. The program to establish a uniformly distributed celestial reference frame of ∼400 compact radio sources with optical counterparts was begun in 1987. Some 700 sources have been considered as part of this effort and a preliminary list of ∼400 has been observed. At present, 308 sources have formal 1σ errors less than 1 mas in right ascension and 308 have similar precision in declination. The astrometric results include some data acquired for geodetic purposes. The geodetic results using data to September, 1992 include the positions of 105 sites with formal 1σ horizontal errors generally less than 1 cm at 1992.6 and the velocities of 64 sites with formal 1σ horizontal errors generally better than 2 mm/yr.

scholarly journals Spectral Variability of Radio Sources at Low Frequencies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Ross ◽  
J R Callingham ◽  
N Hurley-Walker ◽  
N Seymour ◽  
P Hancock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Population ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Spectral Shape ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Spectral Variability ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Media Source ◽  
Murchison Widefield Array ◽  
One Year ◽  
Source Structure

Abstract Spectral variability of radio sources encodes information about the conditions of intervening media, source structure, and emission processes. With new low-frequency radio interferometers observing over wide fractional bandwidths, studies of spectral variability for a large population of extragalactic radio sources are now possible. Using two epochs of observations from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey that were taken one year apart, we search for spectral variability across 100–230 MHz for 21,558 sources. We present methodologies for detecting variability in the spectrum between epochs and for classifying the type of variability: either as a change in spectral shape or as a uniform change in flux density across the bandwidth. We identify 323 sources with significant spectral variability over a year-long timescale. Of the 323 variable sources, we classify 51 of these as showing a significant change in spectral shape. Variability is more prevalent in peaked-spectrum sources, analogous to gigahertz-peaked spectrum and compact steep-spectrum sources, compared to typical radio galaxies. We discuss the viability of several potential explanations of the observed spectral variability, such as interstellar scintillation and jet evolution. Our results suggest that the radio sky in the megahertz regime is more dynamic than previously suggested.

scholarly journals Searching for dark matter signals from local dwarf spheroidal galaxies at low radio frequencies in the GLEAM survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
R H W Cook ◽  
N Seymour ◽  
K Spekkens ◽  
N Hurley-Walker ◽  
P J Hancock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Massive Particle ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Electromagnetic Spectrum ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Synchrotron Emission ◽  
Dark Matter Annihilation ◽  
Astrophysical Objects ◽  
Radio Frequencies ◽  
Murchison Widefield Array

ABSTRACT The search for emission from weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter annihilation and decay has become a multipronged area of research not only targeting a diverse selection of astrophysical objects, but also taking advantage of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The decay of WIMP particles into standard model particles has been suggested as a possible channel for synchrotron emission to be detected at low radio frequencies. Here, we present the stacking analysis of a sample of 33 dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies with low-frequency (72–231 MHz) radio images from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. We produce radial surface brightness profiles of images centred upon each dSph galaxy with background radio sources masked. We remove 10 fields from the stacking due to contamination from either poorly subtracted, bright radio sources or strong background gradients across the field. The remaining 23 dSph galaxies are stacked in an attempt to obtain a statistical detection of any WIMP-induced synchrotron emission in these systems. We find that the stacked radial brightness profile does not exhibit a statistically significant detection above the 95 per cent confidence level of ∼1.5 mJy beam−1. This novel technique shows the potential of using low-frequency radio images to constrain fundamental properties of particle dark matter.

scholarly journals Detecting pulsar polarization below 100 MHz with the Long Wavelength Array

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (3) ◽  
pp. 3623-3634 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Dike ◽  
G B Taylor ◽  
J Dowell ◽  
K Stovall
Keyword(s):  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Pulsar Emission ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Polarization Characteristics ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Polarization Profiles ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACT Using the first station of the Long Wavelength Array (LWA1), we examine polarized pulsar emission between 25 and 88 MHz. Polarized light from pulsars undergoes Faraday rotation as it passes through the magnetized interstellar medium. Observations from low-frequency telescopes are ideal for obtaining precise rotation measures (RMs) because the effect of Faraday rotation is proportional to the square of the observing wavelength. With these RMs, we obtained polarized pulse profiles to see how polarization changes in the 25–88 MHz range. The RMs were also used to derive values for the electron-density-weighted average Galactic magnetic field along the line of sight. We present RMs and polarization profiles of 15 pulsars acquired using data from LWA1. These results provide new insight into low-frequency polarization characteristics and pulsar emission heights, and complement measurements at higher frequencies.

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