scholarly journals Radio Continuum Surveys with Square Kilometre Array Pathfinders

Author(s):  
Ray P. Norris ◽  
J. Afonso ◽  
D. Bacon ◽  
Rainer Beck ◽  
Martin Bell ◽  
...  

AbstractIn the lead-up to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, several next-generation radio telescopes and upgrades are already being built around the world. These include APERTIF (The Netherlands), ASKAP (Australia), e-MERLIN (UK), VLA (USA), e-EVN (based in Europe), LOFAR (The Netherlands), MeerKAT (South Africa), and the Murchison Widefield Array. Each of these new instruments has different strengths, and coordination of surveys between them can help maximise the science from each of them. A radio continuum survey is being planned on each of them with the primary science objective of understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies over cosmic time, and the cosmological parameters and large-scale structures which drive it. In pursuit of this objective, the different teams are developing a variety of new techniques, and refining existing ones. To achieve these exciting scientific goals, many technical challenges must be addressed by the survey instruments. Given the limited resources of the global radio-astronomical community, it is essential that we pool our skills and knowledge. We do not have sufficient resources to enjoy the luxury of re-inventing wheels. We face significant challenges in calibration, imaging, source extraction and measurement, classification and cross-identification, redshift determination, stacking, and data-intensive research. As these instruments extend the observational parameters, we will face further unexpected challenges in calibration, imaging, and interpretation. If we are to realise the full scientific potential of these expensive instruments, it is essential that we devote enough resources and careful study to understanding the instrumental effects and how they will affect the data. We have established an SKA Radio Continuum Survey working group, whose prime role is to maximise science from these instruments by ensuring we share resources and expertise across the projects. Here we describe these projects, their science goals, and the technical challenges which are being addressed to maximise the science return.

Author(s):  
T. M. O. Franzen ◽  
T. Vernstrom ◽  
C. A. Jackson ◽  
N. Hurley-Walker ◽  
R. D. Ekers ◽  
...  

Abstract The GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array survey is a radio continuum survey at 72–231 MHz of the whole sky south of declination +30º, carried out with the Murchison Widefield Array. In this paper, we derive source counts from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison data at 200, 154, 118, and 88 MHz, to a flux density limit of 50, 80, 120, and 290 mJy respectively, correcting for ionospheric smearing, incompleteness and source blending. These counts are more accurate than other counts in the literature at similar frequencies as a result of the large area of sky covered and this survey’s sensitivity to extended emission missed by other surveys. At S154 MHz > 0.5 Jy, there is no evidence of flattening in the average spectral index (α ≈ −0.8 where S ∝ vα) towards the lower frequencies. We demonstrate that the Square Kilometre Array Design Study model by Wilman et al. significantly underpredicts the observed 154-MHz GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison counts, particularly at the bright end. Using deeper Low-Frequency Array counts and the Square Kilometre Array Design Study model, we find that sidelobe confusion dominates the thermal noise and classical confusion at v ≳ 100 MHz due to both the limited CLEANing depth and the undeconvolved sources outside the field-of-view. We show that we can approach the theoretical noise limit using a more efficient and automated CLEAN algorithm.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 291-298
Author(s):  
Frits A. Fastenau ◽  
Jaap H. J. M. van der Graaf ◽  
Gerard Martijnse

More than 95 % of the total housing stock in the Netherlands is connected to central sewerage systems and in most cases the wastewater is treated biologically. As connection to central sewerage systems has reached its economic limits, interest in on-site treatment of the domestic wastewater of the remaining premises is increasing. A large scale research programme into on-site wastewater treatment up to population equivalents of 200 persons has therefore been initiated by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment. Intensive field-research work did establish that the technological features of most on-site biological treatment systems were satisfactory. A large scale implementation of these systems is however obstructed in different extents by problems of an organisational, financial and/or juridical nature and management difficulties. At present research is carried out to identify these bottlenecks and to analyse possible solutions. Some preliminary results are given which involve the following ‘bottlenecks':-legislation: absence of co-ordination and absence of a definition of ‘surface water';-absence of subsidies;-ownership: divisions in task-setting of Municipalities and Waterboards; divisions involved with cost-sharing;-inspection; operational control and maintenance; organisation of management;-discharge permits;-pollution levy;-sludge disposal. Final decisions and practical elaboration of policies towards on-site treatment will have to be formulated in a broad discussion with all the authorities and interest groups involved.


Author(s):  
Nathalie Deruelle ◽  
Jean-Philippe Uzan

This chapter provides a few examples of representations of the universe on a large scale—a first step in constructing a cosmological model. It first discusses the Copernican principle, which is an approximation/hypothesis about the matter distribution in the observable universe. The chapter then turns to the cosmological principle—a hypothesis about the geometry of the Riemannian spacetime representing the universe, which is assumed to be foliated by 3-spaces labeled by a cosmic time t which are homogeneous and isotropic, that is, ‘maximally symmetric’. After a discussion on maximally symmetric space, this chapter considers spacetimes with homogenous and isotropic sections. Finally, this chapter discusses Milne and de Sitter spacetimes.


1999 ◽  
Vol 523 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfram Freudling ◽  
Idit Zehavi ◽  
Luiz N. da Costa ◽  
Avishai Dekel ◽  
Amiram Eldar ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (3) ◽  
pp. 3942-3954
Author(s):  
D Hung ◽  
B C Lemaux ◽  
R R Gal ◽  
A R Tomczak ◽  
L M Lubin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present a new mass function of galaxy clusters and groups using optical/near-infrared (NIR) wavelength spectroscopic and photometric data from the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large-Scale Environments (ORELSE) survey. At z ∼ 1, cluster mass function studies are rare regardless of wavelength and have never been attempted from an optical/NIR perspective. This work serves as a proof of concept that z ∼ 1 cluster mass functions are achievable without supplemental X-ray or Sunyaev-Zel’dovich data. Measurements of the cluster mass function provide important contraints on cosmological parameters and are complementary to other probes. With ORELSE, a new cluster finding technique based on Voronoi tessellation Monte Carlo (VMC) mapping, and rigorous purity and completeness testing, we have obtained ∼240 galaxy overdensity candidates in the redshift range 0.55 < z < 1.37 at a mass range of 13.6 < log (M/M⊙) < 14.8. This mass range is comparable to existing optical cluster mass function studies for the local universe. Our candidate numbers vary based on the choice of multiple input parameters related to detection and characterization in our cluster finding algorithm, which we incorporated into the mass function analysis through a Monte Carlo scheme. We find cosmological constraints on the matter density, Ωm, and the amplitude of fluctuations, σ8, of $\Omega _{m} = 0.250^{+0.104}_{-0.099}$ and $\sigma _{8} = 1.150^{+0.260}_{-0.163}$. While our Ωm value is close to concordance, our σ8 value is ∼2σ higher because of the inflated observed number densities compared to theoretical mass function models owing to how our survey targeted overdense regions. With Euclid and several other large, unbiased optical surveys on the horizon, VMC mapping will enable optical/NIR cluster cosmology at redshifts much higher than what has been possible before.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512110249
Author(s):  
Peer Smets ◽  
Younes Younes ◽  
Marinka Dohmen ◽  
Kees Boersma ◽  
Lenie Brouwer

During the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe, temporary refugee shelters arose in the Netherlands to shelter the large influx of asylum seekers. The largest shelter was located in the eastern part of the country. This shelter, where tents housed nearly 3,000 asylum seekers, was managed with a firm top-down approach. However, many residents of the shelter—mainly Syrians and Eritreans—developed horizontal relations with the local receiving society, using social media to establish contact and exchange services and goods. This case study shows how various types of crisis communication played a role and how the different worlds came together. Connectivity is discussed in relation to inclusion, based on resilient (non-)humanitarian approaches that link society with social media. Moreover, we argue that the refugee crisis can be better understood by looking through the lens of connectivity, practices, and migration infrastructure instead of focusing only on state policies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Rahim Rahmani ◽  
Ramin Firouzi ◽  
Sachiko Lim ◽  
Mahbub Alam

The major challenges of operating data-intensive of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) are (1) to reach consensus on the main chain as a set of validators cast public votes to decide on which blocks to finalize and (2) scalability on how to increase the number of chains which will be running in parallel. In this paper, we introduce a new proximal algorithm that scales DLT in a large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) devices network. We discuss how the algorithm benefits the integrating DLT in IoT by using edge computing technology, taking the scalability and heterogeneous capability of IoT devices into consideration. IoT devices are clustered dynamically into groups based on proximity context information. A cluster head is used to bridge the IoT devices with the DLT network where a smart contract is deployed. In this way, the security of the IoT is improved and the scalability and latency are solved. We elaborate on our mechanism and discuss issues that should be considered and implemented when using the proposed algorithm, we even show how it behaves with varying parameters like latency or when clustering.


2019 ◽  
Vol 625 ◽  
pp. A114 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. F. Jiménez-Andrade ◽  
B. Magnelli ◽  
A. Karim ◽  
G. Zamorani ◽  
M. Bondi ◽  
...  

To better constrain the physical mechanisms driving star formation, we present the first systematic study of the radio continuum size evolution of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) over the redshift range 0.35 <  z <  2.25. We use the VLA COSMOS 3 GHz map (noise rms = 2.3 μJy beam−1, θbeam = 0.75 arcsec) to construct a mass-complete sample of 3184 radio-selected SFGs that reside on and above the main sequence (MS) of SFGs. We constrain the overall extent of star formation activity in galaxies by applying a 2D Gaussian model to their radio continuum emission. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate the robustness of our measurements and characterize the selection function. We find no clear dependence between the radio size and stellar mass, M⋆, of SFGs with 10.5 ≲ log(M⋆/M⊙) ≲ 11.5. Our analysis suggests that MS galaxies are preferentially extended, while SFGs above the MS are always compact. The median effective radius of SFGs on (above) the MS of Reff = 1.5 ± 0.2 (1.0 ± 0.2) kpc remains nearly constant with cosmic time; a parametrization of the form Reff ∝ (1 + z)α yields a shallow slope of only α = −0.26 ± 0.08 (0.12 ± 0.14) for SFGs on (above) the MS. The size of the stellar component of galaxies is larger than the extent of the radio continuum emission by a factor ∼2 (1.3) at z = 0.5 (2), indicating star formation is enhanced at small radii. The galactic-averaged star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR) scales with the distance to the MS, except for a fraction of MS galaxies (≲10%) that harbor starburst-like ΣSFR. These “hidden” starbursts might have experienced a compaction phase due to disk instability and/or a merger-driven burst of star formation, which may or may not significantly offset a galaxy from the MS. We thus propose to use ΣSFR and distance to the MS in conjunction to better identify the galaxy population undergoing a starbursting phase.


Author(s):  
T. M. O. Franzen ◽  
N. Hurley-Walker ◽  
S. V. White ◽  
P. J. Hancock ◽  
N. Seymour ◽  
...  

Abstract We present the South Galactic Pole (SGP) data release from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. These data combine both years of GLEAM observations at 72–231 MHz conducted with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and cover an area of 5 113 $\mathrm{deg}^{2}$ centred on the SGP at $20^{\mathrm{h}} 40^{\mathrm{m}} < \mathrm{RA} < 05^{\mathrm{h}} 04^{\mathrm{m}}$ and $-48^{\circ} < \mathrm{Dec} < -2^{\circ} $ . At 216 MHz, the typical rms noise is ${\approx}5$ mJy beam–1 and the angular resolution ${\approx}2$ arcmin. The source catalogue contains a total of 108 851 components above $5\sigma$ , of which 77% have measured spectral indices between 72 and 231 MHz. Improvements to the data reduction in this release include the use of the GLEAM Extragalactic catalogue as a sky model to calibrate the data, a more efficient and automated algorithm to deconvolve the snapshot images, and a more accurate primary beam model to correct the flux scale. This data release enables more sensitive large-scale studies of extragalactic source populations as well as spectral variability studies on a one-year timescale.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document