scholarly journals Fluctuations in the Microwave Sky

1996 ◽  
Vol 168 ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
R. B. Partridge

This paper reviews the great progress recently made in searches for and the characterization of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. We now have secure detections on some angular scales and improved upper limits on others. As the sensitivity of such searches increases, understanding sources of foreground noise (e.g., Galactic and extragalactic radio emission) becomes more important. Also reviewed are the contributions aperture synthesis (interferometric) observations can make in characterizing cosmic background fluctuations and foreground sources of noise. Some recent results from the Very Large Array at λ = 3.6 cm are given; these set a limit δT/T ≲ 1.4 × 10−5on fluctuations at θ ~ 80′. Recent work on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect is summarized.

2021 ◽  
Vol 163 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Y. Cendes ◽  
P. K. G. Williams ◽  
E. Berger

Abstract We present the first systematic search for GHz frequency radio emission from directly imaged exoplanets using Very Large Array observations of sufficient angular resolution to separate the planets from their host stars. We obtained results for five systems and eight exoplanets located at ≲50 pc through new observations (Ross 458, GU Psc, and 51 Eri) and archival data (GJ 504 and HR 8799). We do not detect radio emission from any of the exoplanets, with 3σ luminosity upper limits of (0.9–23) × 1021 erg s−1. These limits are comparable to the level of radio emission detected in several ultracool dwarfs, including T dwarfs, whose masses are only a factor of two times higher than those of the directly imaged exoplanets. Despite the lack of detections in this pilot study, we highlight the need for continued GHz frequency radio observations of nearby exoplanets at μJy-level sensitivity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Schuyler D. Van Dyk ◽  
Kurt W. Weiler ◽  
Richard A. Sramek ◽  
Nino Panagia ◽  
Christopher Stockdale ◽  
...  

SummaryWe review ten years of radio continuum and X-ray monitoring of the Type IIb SN 1993J in M81. The supernova (SN) has been observed continuously, since only a few days after explosion, by our group with the Very Large Array at a number of radio frequencies, as well as by other groups. As a result, it is among the best-studied radio supernovae. The observed synchrotron radio emission is thought to arise from the interaction of the SN shock with the pre-SN wind-established circumstellar medium around the progenitor star. We describe the properties of the circumstellar interaction, based on the more fully-developed dataset, and compare this to our earlier characterization made in 1994. SN 1993J has also been a target of X-ray satellites, and we briefly discuss the nature of the X-ray emission and, together with the radio emission, describe the implications for the nature of the SN’s progenitor.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A29 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Trombetti ◽  
C. Burigana ◽  
G. De Zotti ◽  
V. Galluzzi ◽  
M. Massardi

Recent detailed simulations have shown that an insufficiently accurate characterization of the contamination of unresolved polarized extragalactic sources can seriously bias measurements of the primordial cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum if the tensor-to-scalar ratio r ∼ 0.001, as predicted by models currently of special interest (e.g., Starobinsky’s R2 and Higgs inflation). This has motivated a reanalysis of the median polarization fraction of extragalactic sources (radio-loud AGNs and dusty galaxies) using data from the Planck polarization maps. Our approach, exploiting the intensity distribution analysis, mitigates or overcomes the most delicate aspects of earlier analyses based on stacking techniques. By means of simulations, we have shown that the residual noise bias on the median polarization fraction, Πmedian, of extragalactic sources is generally ≲0.1%. For radio sources, we have found Πmedian ≃ 2.83%, with no significant dependence on either frequency or flux density, in good agreement with the earlier estimate and with high-sensitivity measurements in the frequency range 5–40 GHz. No polarization signal is detected in the case of dusty galaxies, implying 90% confidence upper limits of Πdusty ≲ 2.2% at 353 GHz and of ≲3.9% at 217 GHz. The contamination of CMB polarization maps by unresolved point sources is discussed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Spangler

We discuss Very Large Array spectral and polarimetric observations of the lobes of luminous, double radio galaxies. These observations can provide information on the (typically undetected) jets responsible for the sources. Spectral steepening is usually observed in the lobes, with the radio spectral index increasing with distance from the hot spot. These data can be used to infer a "speed of separation" of the hot spot and lobe material. These speeds, typically 1.0 × 104–3.0 × 104 km/s, are in agreement with hydrocode models of jets, which interpret the measured speed of separation as a combination of hot-spot motion and backflow. Polarimetric observations indicate that in at least some sources, there is an undetectably small amount of internal Faraday rotation, indicating upper limits to the thermal-plasma density of a few times 10−5 cm−3 or less. These measurements are also in agreement with the numerical beam models, provided that the beam density is substantially less than that of the background medium. We conclude that the lobe observations indicate that these sources are powered by light, high-Mach-number beams.


2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (1) ◽  
pp. 1278-1297
Author(s):  
S Chen ◽  
E Järvelä ◽  
L Crepaldi ◽  
M Zhou ◽  
S Ciroi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present the results of new radio observations carried out with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array C-configuration at 5.5 GHz for a sample of southern narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s). This work increases the number of known radio-detected NLS1s in the Southern hemisphere, and confirms that the radio emission of NLS1s is mainly concentrated in a central region at kpc-scale and only a few sources show diffuse emission. In radio-quiet NLS1s, the radio luminosity tends to be higher in steep-spectrum sources and be lower in flat-spectrum sources, which is opposite to radio-loud NLS1s. This may be because the radio emission of steep NLS1s is dominated by misaligned jets, active galactic nucleus driven outflows, or star formation superposing on a compact core. Instead the radio emission of flat NLS1s may be produced by a central core that has not yet developed radio jets and outflows. We discover new NLS1s harbouring kpc-scale radio jets and confirm that a powerful jet does not require a large-mass black hole to be generated. We also find sources dominated by star formation. These NLS1s could be new candidates in investigating the radio emission of different mechanisms.


1993 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 377-380
Author(s):  
H. G. Walter ◽  
R. Hering ◽  
H. Lenhardt ◽  
Chr. deVegt ◽  
D.R. Florkowski ◽  
...  

Optical positions of some 30 radio stars derived from 12 months of HIPPARCOS measurements are compared with their radio positions obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA). — Once the lengths of arcs between optical and radio positions of pairs of stars are calculated the differences of the arcs are formed. They provide an estimate of the coincidence of the optical and radio emission centres. — From the comparison of optical and radio positions infinitesimal rotation angles of the HIPPARCOS frame with respect to the VLA extragalactic reference frame are determined by rigid rotations. After taking account of the relative orientation of the frames the standard deviations of the remaining residuals are approximately of the order of the VLA observation errors, thus demonstrating the reliability of the HIPPARCOS results. However, they also indicate some data noise very likely caused by the low accuracy of optical proper motions used to bridge the HIPPARCOS-radio epoch differences up to 9 years, and possible discrepancies of radio-optical emission centres of some stars.


1986 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 307-319
Author(s):  
R. B. Partridge

AbstractCrucial cosmological information is provided by the observed angular distribution (isotropy) of the cosmic microwave background radiation. This report treats the current status of searches for anisotroples in this radiation on all angular scales from 180° (the dipole component) to 6″. With the exception of the dipole component, only upper limits (at ~ 10-4 in ΔT/T) are available, yet these upper limits have played an important role in refining models of the early Universe and of the origin of structure within it.


1982 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 221-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Hogg

In principle radio observations of WR stars offer the best possibility of determining the rate of mass loss, since for a simple model of the extended atmosphere the mass loss rate depends primarily on quantities—the flux density, the velocity, and the distance—which are observable (Barlow 1979). Until now, detections of Wolf-Rayet stars have been limited by the sensitivity and resolution of available telescopes. The advent of the Very Large Array makes a search for emission from a large number of these stars feasible.


2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 2858-2871 ◽  
Author(s):  
N V Gusinskaia ◽  
J W T Hessels ◽  
N Degenaar ◽  
A T Deller ◽  
J C A Miller-Jones ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Aql X-1 is one of the best-studied neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. It was previously targeted using quasi-simultaneous radio and X-ray observations during at least seven different accretion outbursts. Such observations allow us to probe the interplay between accretion inflow (X-ray) and jet outflow (radio). Thus far, these combined observations have only covered one order of magnitude in radio and X-ray luminosity range; this means that any potential radio–X-ray luminosity correlation, LR ∝ LXβ, is not well constrained (β ≈ 0.4–0.9, based on various studies) or understood. Here we present quasi-simultaneous Very Large Array and Swift-XRT observations of Aql X-1’s 2016 outburst, with which we probe one order of magnitude fainter in radio and X-ray luminosity compared to previous studies (6 × 1034 erg s−1 < LX <3 × 1035 erg s−1, i.e. the intermediate to low-luminosity regime between outburst peak and quiescence). The resulting radio non-detections indicate that Aql X-1’s radio emission decays more rapidly at low X-ray luminosities than previously assumed – at least during the 2016 outburst. Assuming similar behaviour between outbursts, and combining all available data in the hard X-ray state, this can be modelled as a steep β =$1.17^{+0.30}_{-0.21}$ power-law index or as a sharp radio cut-off at LX ≲ 5 × 1035 erg s−1 (given our deep radio upper limits at X-ray luminosities below this value). We discuss these results in the context of other similar studies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S304) ◽  
pp. 95-95
Author(s):  
Francesco Massaro ◽  
R. D'Abrusco ◽  
M. Giroletti ◽  
A. Paggi ◽  
N. Masetti ◽  
...  

AbstractAbout one third of the gamma-ray sources detected by Fermi have still no firmly established counterpart at lower energies. Here we propose a new approach to find candidate counterparts for the unidentified gamma-ray sources (UGSs) based on the 325 MHz radio survey performed with Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) in the northern hemisphere. First we investigate the low-frequency radio properties of blazars, the largest known population of gamma-ray sources; then we search for sources with similar radio properties combining the information derived from the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS) with those of the NRAO VLA Sky survey (NVSS). We present a list of candidate counterparts for 32 UGSs with at least one counterpart in the WENSS. We also performed an extensive research in literature to look for infrared and optical counterparts of the gamma-ray blazar candidates selected with the low-frequency radio observations to confirm their nature. On the basis of our multifrequency research we identify 23 new gamma-ray blazar candidates out of 32 UGSs investigated. I will also present the first analysis of very low frequency radio emission of blazars based on the recent Very Large Array Low-Frequency Sky Survey (VLSS) at 74 MHz. I show that blazars present radio flat spectra when evaluated at 74 MHz, about an order of magnitude in frequency lower than previous analyses. The implications of these findings in the contest of the blazars – radio galaxies connection will be discussed.


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