FY 2009 NAIC Progress Report & Research Plan Review 16 – 17 November 2009 Radio Astronomy & Future Plans Chris Salter (with thanks to Murray Lewis) Arecibo

FY 2009 NAIC Progress Report & Research Plan Review16 – 17 November 2009

Radio Astronomy & Future Radio Astronomy & Future Plans Plans

Chris Salter Chris Salter (with thanks to Murray Lewis) (with thanks to Murray Lewis)

Arecibo Observatory (National Astronomy & Ionosphere Center)


Arecibo Astronomy Arecibo Astronomy Observing ParametersObserving Parameters

-- 80% of astronomy telescope time for large (≥300 hr) survey projects:

currently all using ALFA or LBW receivers.

-- 20% of astronomy telescope time for other astronomy projects.

-- Frequency coverage: 327, 430 & 800 MHz, 1.1-10 GHz via 6 receivers + ALFA.


ALFA: The Arecibo L-band Feed ALFA: The Arecibo L-band Feed ArrayArray• Installed Apr 2004, surveys initiated

Feb 2005

• 7 beams × 2 poln (linear) = 14 pixels

• Bandwidth = 1225-1525 MHz

• Unmatched sensitivity: SEFD ≈ 3 Jy

• HPBW=3.3′ × 3.8′ on 11′ × 13′ ellipse

• Commensal operations for sky surveys

•ALFA consortia self-organized by community

•LEDs retro-fitted during 2009 to aid recovery from saturation by radar-RFI


Current Arecibo Survey Current Arecibo Survey ProjectsProjects

• Pulsar Search: PALFA Survey, commensal with ZoA & RRL.

• Galactic λ21-cm HI: Individual-area GALFA Surveys; I-GALFA commensal with GALFACTS & ZoA.

• Extragalactic λ21-cm HI: ALFALFA, AGES, both commensal with GALFA-TOGS, and AUDS.

• Continuum: GALFACTS (Full-Stokes), commensal with GALFA-TOGS2 & ZoA.

• Single-Pixel Surveys: (a) Zeeman-effect survey of magnetic fields in ULIRGS; observations completed, (b) GASS (GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey) survey of HI in 1000 massive galaxies.


Pulsar HighlightsPulsar Highlights

• PSR Period = 2.15 ms

• Binary Period = 95 day

• Orbital Eccentricity = 0.44

• PSR mass = 1.68±0.01Mo → implications for EOS of cold ultra-dense matter

• Pulsars can accrete significant mass during recycling.

PALFA PSR J1903+0327PALFA PSR J1903+0327

Radio and Radio and γ-Ray γ-Ray PulsarsPulsars

• Arecibo pulsar, J2021+3651 is found to be one of the strongest γ-ray emitters by Fermi/GLAST.

• Of 9 new γ-ray pulsars in the Arecibo sky from Fermi/GLAST, J1907+0602 is found to be a radio pulsar (P=0.10664 s). With S

1.4 GHz= 3 μJy, and a

distance ~ 3 kpc, it is the second least luminous pulsar known!


• AGES – the Arecibo Galactic Environment Survey

• Observes nearby galactic environments and volumes before and behind them.

• About 40% complete.

• Rms noise level ~0.75 mJy/bm.

• Almost all detections have an optical counterpart. One that does not is shown above.

ALFALFA & AGESALFALFA & AGES

• ALFALFA – Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey. Observations 77% complete.

•Spänhauer diagram for 13051 galaxy detections.

• Large number of detections of galaxies with MHI < 108 Mo.

HI Census HI Census →→ HI Mass Function HI Mass Function

1350-MHz FAA Radar


ALFALFA – ALFALFA – Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA SurveyArecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey

• Will cover 7000 deg2. 0o<Dec<+36o, 22h<RA<3h & 7.5h<RA<16.5h to z < 0.06.

• 8×sensitivity, 4×angular resolution, 3×spectral resolution, 1.6×velocity coverage of Parkes HIPASS survey.

• Five data catalogs, plus 15 refereed science papers, have been published.

• Has cataloged more HI detections than the total known pre-ALFALFA.

• Has more than 60 participants.

• Undergraduate-ALFALFA “Groups of Galaxies” project.

• HI Mass Function for Leo 1 Group. The low mass slope is steeper than the optical luminosity function, but shallower than predictions of ΛCDM structure formation simulations.

• In Perseus-Pisces Void, not one galaxy detected with HI where 38 are expected.


I-GALFAI-GALFA – The Inner Galaxy ALFA low-– The Inner Galaxy ALFA low-bb HI Survey HI Survey

• I-GALFA covers 35°≤ l ≤85°, |b| ≤10°.

• Observations were completed in September 2009.

• HPBW=3.35', Trms

= 0.25 K,

Δvchan

= 0.18 km/s, |vlsr

| < 750 km/s.

• (Triple) Commensal with ZOA & GALFACTS2.

•Prominent is the HI/continuum supershell GS 041+01+27, probably lying in the Sagittarius spiral arm.

(top) I-GALFA HI image – vlsr

= +27 km/s; (bottom) GALFACTS2 L-band continuum image


• TOGS/TOGS2 is commensal with GALFACTS, ALFALFA & AGES, mapping large areas of sky in HI at no overhead in observing time.

• Used to study, (a) Galactic structure, (b) correlation of HVC HI and dust contents, (c) HI clouds surrounding M33 attributed to M33–M31 tidal interactions, (d) HI content of Local Group dwarf galaxies, and (e) HI content of globular clusters.

GALFA-TOGS/TOGS2 Wide-Area HI SurveyGALFA-TOGS/TOGS2 Wide-Area HI Survey

TOGS = “Turn On GALFA Spectrometer!” HI for -5 ≤ vlsr

≤ 0 km/ s

(Image includes I-GALFA data)


GALFACTS (GALFA Continuum Transit GALFACTS (GALFA Continuum Transit

Survey)Survey) • GALFACTS is a full-Stokes, all-Arecibo-sky, continuum survey.

• It uses the Mock spectrometer, and an original multi-beam CLEAN.

• The GALFACTS survey began November 2008, and is about 12% complete.

• Studies of a) Galactic magnetic field via both point-source and foreground polarization, b) thermal/nonthermal separation of Galactic foreground, & c) SNRs, HII regions and the Galactic loops.

• Bandwidth = 300 MHz → Faraday tomography, Ip(x, y, RM).


Red Dwarf “Pulsars” – TVLM 513-Red Dwarf “Pulsars” – TVLM 513-4654646546

• Arecibo provides the wide bandwidth and high spectral resolution not available with the VLA → dynamic spectra of the pulses from TVLM 513.

• Pulses resolved in both time and frequency → Brightness temperature > 1015 K for this electron cyclotron maser emission. Radio emission occurs at electron cyclotron frequency → magnetic field strength of kiloGauss.

• June 2009 Arecibo observations of TVLM 513 were made simultaneously with H-α, optical photometry, and NIR spectrophometry allowing correlation for 4-band variability in both phase and time.


Molecular-Line Molecular-Line StudiesStudies

H2O maser in host galaxy of QSO

J0414+0534 (z=2.64) monitored at 6-week intervals

Top Formaldehyde Absorption and (bottom) excited-line OH maser emission in LIRG, NGC 660

Excited satellite line OH maser in PPN, CRL 618

Methanol in NGC 2264-IRS1

CH main line at 724 MHz in W51


HI Absorption in the Host Galaxy of QSO CTA 21HI Absorption in the Host Galaxy of QSO CTA 21

CTA 21 at arcsec resolution: CTA 21 at arcsec resolution: contours= radio; greyscale=opticalcontours= radio; greyscale=optical

CTA 21 at milliarcsec resolutionCTA 21 at milliarcsec resolution

Optical Spectrum of CTA 21Optical Spectrum of CTA 21

Radio Spectrum of CTA 21Radio Spectrum of CTA 21

100 1000 10000

10

1

0.1

Frequency (MHz)

Flux Density (Jy)

HI absorption in the host galaxy HI absorption in the host galaxy of CTA 21 against the of CTA 21 against the continuum emission of the continuum emission of the central quasarcentral quasar

Observed at Arecibo on 20 & Observed at Arecibo on 20 & 21 September 2009 21 September 2009 Redshift,Redshift, z z = 0.906 = 0.906 Distance = 7,335,000,000 Distance = 7,335,000,000 light years light years CTA 21 is seen at 46% of the CTA 21 is seen at 46% of the present age of the Universe present age of the Universe

Central Frequency = 745.5 MHz

Analog-to-Digital migration of TV transmissions in June 2009 temporarily freed up the 700–800 MHz band. Arecibo has provided and commissioned a receiver.


Arecibo VLBI Highlights Arecibo VLBI Highlights –– 20092009

+ + +

• Continued HSA, EVN and Global Array operations.

• Regular eVLBI science runs at 256 & 512 Mbit/sec.

• Imminent acquisition of 12-m antenna for VLBI Phase-referencing.

• Acquisition of 2 х Mark-5C recorders, and the ordering of 2 х digital back-ends (DBEs) for de;ivery in the coming months.


The Arecibo 12-m The Arecibo 12-m AntennaAntenna

• Current Status – Order soon to be placed for a Patriot 12-m antenna. The antenna should arrive at the Observatory in February 2010, with assembly in March. When commissioned, its primary use will be for VLBI phase referencing.

• Freq. Coverage – An S/X receiver has been ordered from Patriot Antenna Systems Inc. It is intended that a broadband front-end will be installed at a later date.

• Single Dish Uses – Education and research applications with Puerto-Rican universities and other educational establishments.

• Other Potential Uses – (a) Participation in VLBI2010; (b) At L-band, the voltage beam-width of a 12-m antenna contains all 7 beams of the ALFA receiver, opening up the possibility of multi-beam interferometric applications.


The Arecibo 12-m The Arecibo 12-m Antenna Site Antenna Site

12-m Antenna Site

The AUT Patriot 12-m Antenna

Arecibo Site Work (11/12/09)


Arecibo eVLBI Arecibo eVLBI Astronomy Astronomy

Observing time = 2 hr.Antennas = Cm, Kn, Jb2, Mc, On, Tr & Wb.

Observing time = 8 hr.Antennas = Cm, Da, Jb1, Mc, On, Tr, Ef & Ar (for 2 hr 20 min.)

1.6 GHz; J1218+2953

5 GHz: J0204+151

Image of J0204+151 made during the IYA “24 hours of eVLBI” by Ar plus 16 other telescopes on 5 continents,

5 GHz: SS433

ToO observations of SS433 made between November 6 & 19, 2008.


Expected Developments over Expected Developments over 2009-102009-10

• Completion of Mock spectrometer “single-pixel” option allowing a 1-GHz bandwidth with 0.15 km/s velocity resolution at 10 GHz, as requested by consortium proposal for spectral survey of Galactic molecular-line sources.

• Improvement to the system temperature and sensitivity of the 700–800 MHz receiver.

• Continued development towards a 40-beam focal-plane phased feed array to give an HI mapping array with the observing speed of ASKAP or MeerKAT.

• Developments towards replacing the present four receivers covering 2 to 8 GHz with two broader-band systems, and bringing the receiver RF directly to the Control Room.

• Completion of VLBI equipment upgrade to a digital backend and Mk5C recorders allowing regular recording at up to 4 Gbits/sec.


Muchas Muchas GraciasGracias


ReceiversReceivers

800


Existing Arecibo VLBI CapabilityExisting Arecibo VLBI Capability

DAR - VLBA4

MK5A

Max 1-GHz IF

The Big Dish(Gain~10k/Jy,SEFD~3-5 Jy)

Correlator

Internet

FedEx

1024 Mbps256 MHz (max)2 x 8, 16 MHz.05, .5 (#1,2 Rxs), 1 GHz

327, 800, L, S-Lo, S-High, C, C-High, X

Total data rateTotal single-pol RF Bandwidth

# of BBCs & Max ∆ν/BBC

Max. IF bandwidth/Rx

Receivers

Co-Observing Networks:

1.VLBA + Ar & the HSA (HSA, includes the phased-VLA,

GBT, EF)2. European VLBI Network + Ar 3. Global - Network4. eVLBI (Real-time VLBI via

internet: as yet with the EVN only)


Ultra-Wideband VLBI (UVLBI)

• The ultra-sensitive Arecibo-GBT baseline was used to search for the anticipated weak central images in 8 gravitational-lens systems.

• 2 × Mk5B VLBI recorders and a digital backend were loaned by Haystack Observatory allowing 4-Gbit/sec data rates.

• In a 10-sec integration on the Ar-Gb baseline, a signal-to-noise ratio of 1700:1 was achieved on a 122 mJy compact source.

• The noise level is 230/√T(sec) μJy/beam.

• This is the “most sensitive radio interferometry in history!”


eVLBI: Test Run at 512-Mbit/sec First trans-Atlantic eVLBI fringes at a data rate of 512 Mbits/sec on 9

September 2008. Fulfills an ExPRES project milestone.

Data arriving at JIVE

Arecibo Fringes with EVN Telescopes

Between 12 midnight and 6 a.m. data rates of 512 Mbits/sec are possible, with a rate of 256 Mbit/sec being available at other times.

Data leaving Arecibo


• A continuum observation, =18-cm, data-rate=512 Mbps, i.e. 128 MHz of RF bandwidth, dual-polarization, = 120 minutes on source:

Arecibo’s Contribution to the Arrays

• A spectral-line observation, =18-cm, 64 channels over 1-MHz, 2 pol, 120mins.

0.25 mJy/beam/ch 0.62 3.00.310.9 mJy/beam/ch

VLBA+Y27+Gb+ARVLBA+Y27+GBVLBAEVN+AREVN

1σ Image noise = 2.5 μJy/beam 4.7 μJy/beam

Global (EVN+VLBA+Y27+Gb)+Ar-Ar

1σ Image noise = 3.8 μJy/beam 9 μJy/beam

EVN+Ar-Ar

1σ Image noise = 3.3 μJy/beam 7.1 μJy/beam

HSA (VLBA+Y27+EF+GB+Ar) -Ar

Documents

FY 2009 NAIC Progress Report & Research Plan Review 16 – 17 November 2009 Radio Astronomy & Future Plans Chris Salter (with thanks to Murray Lewis) Arecibo