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.

scholarly journals Angular clustering of point sources at 150 MHz in the TGSS survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 485 (4) ◽  
pp. 5891-5896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Rana ◽  
Jasjeet S Bagla
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Function ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Redshift Distribution ◽  
Intensity Mapping ◽  
Flux Limit ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Angular Correlation Function

Abstract We study the angular clustering of point sources in The GMRT (Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope) Sky Survey (TGSS). The survey at 150 MHz with δ &gt; −53.5° has a sky coverage of 3.6π steradians, i.e. $90{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the whole sky. We created subsamples by applying different total flux thresholds limit (Sflux ≫ 5σ) for good completeness and measured the angular correlation function ω(θ) of point sources at large scales (≥1°). We find that the amplitude of angular clustering is higher for brighter subsamples; this indicates that higher threshold flux samples are hosted by massive haloes and cluster strongly: this conclusion is based on the assumption that the redshift distribution of sources does not change with flux and this is supported by models of radio sources. We compare our results with other low-frequency studies of clustering of point sources and verify that the amplitude of clustering varies with the flux limit. We quantify this variation as a power-law dependence of the amplitude of correlation function with the flux limit. This dependence can be used to estimate foreground contamination due to clustering of point sources for low-frequency H i intensity mapping surveys for studying the epoch of reionization.

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 A Low frequency Southern Sky Survey Using the Mauritius Radio Telescope

2002 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
N. Udaya Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Radio Telescope ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Fourier Synthesis ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Correlation Receiver ◽  
Complex Correlation ◽  
Right Ascension ◽  
East West

The Mauritius Radio Telescope (MRT) is a Fourier synthesis instrument which has been built to fill the gap in the availability of deep sky surveys at low radio frequencies in the southern hemisphere. It is situated in the north-east of Mauritius at a southern latitude of 20°.14 and an eastern longitude of 57°.73. The aim of the survey with the MRT is to contribute to the database of southern sky sources in the declination range −70° ≤ δ ≤ −10°, covering the entire 24 hours of right ascension, with a resolution of 4' × 4'.6sec(δ + 20.14°) and a point source sensitivity of 200 mJy (3σ level) at 151.5 MHz.MRT is a T-shaped non-coplanar array consisting of a 2048 m long East-West arm and a 880 m long South arm. In the East-West arm 1024 fixed helices are arranged in 32 groups and in the South arm 16 trolleys, with four helices on each, which move on a rail are used. A 512 channel, 2-bit 3-level complex correlation receiver is used to measure the visibility function. At least 60 days of observing are required for obtaining the visibilities up to the 880 m spacing. The calibrated visibilities are transformed taking care of the non-coplanarity of the array to produce an image of the area of the sky under observation.This paper will describe the telescope, the observations carried out so far, a few interesting aspects of imaging with this non-coplanar array and present results of a low resolution survey (13' × 18') covering roughly 12 hours of right ascension, and also present an image with a resolution of 4' × 4'.6sec(δ + 20.14°) made using the telescope.

scholarly journals A Large Decametric Wavelength Antenna Array for IPS Observations of Radio Sources

1980 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 403-403
Author(s):  
Ch. V. Sastry
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Antenna Array ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Antenna System ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Interplanetary Scintillations

Most observations of interplanetary scintillations of radio sources are made at frequencies around 80 MHz. These observations are limited to regions close to the sun, where the scintillations are maximum at this frequency. It is possible to extend these observations to the weakly scattering regions beyond 1 A.U. by making measurements at low frequencies. We have built a low frequency antenna system at Gauribidanur, India (Lat. 13° 36′ N and Long. 5 hrs. 10 min.), which can be used for this purpose. Although this system will not be dedicated to IPS, we intend to use it exclusively for solar wind observations during periods of interest.

scholarly journals A Comparison of the Structures of 3CR Quasars and Blank Field Radio Sources

1982 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 435-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. N. Owen ◽  
J. J. Puschell ◽  
R. A. Laing
Keyword(s):  
Radio Source ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Blank Field ◽  
Sky Survey

The purpose of this communication is to update our knowledge of the radio structural properties of quasars and blank field radio sources (blank field ≡ any radio source without an identification on the Palomar Sky Survey prints). The quasar sample consists of all sources (25) with angular sizes greater than 10 arcsec in the list of Jodrell Bank quasars observed by Owen, Porcas and Neff (1978). The blank fields consist of 16 3CR sources also with structures >10 arcsec based on Cambridge 5 km telescope observations. The sources were selected in low-frequency surveys; their emission at ν < 1 GHz is dominated by extended components with steep spectra. Thus, both samples should be oriented randomly in space except for a slight bias to be in the plane of the sky.

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 Radio and optical observations of “optically quiet quasars”

1986 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 113-115
Author(s):  
W. D. Cotton ◽  
F. N. Owen ◽  
M. J. Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Large Particle ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Optical Emission ◽  
Optical Observations ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Optical Counterpart ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Compact Radio Source ◽  
Weak Magnetic Fields ◽  
Sky Survey

In recent years a number of very steep spectrum, compact radio sources have been discovered (e.g. Cotton 1983, Cotton and Owen 1985, Ulvestad 1985) which have no optical counterpart to the limit of the Palomar Sky Survey. VLBI observations of a number of these have confirmed the very compact (<10 mas) nature of several of these sources. Analysis of the available data in terms of the standard synchrotron modal suggest that they contain very weak magnetic fields, large particle densities and may emit detectable infrared and optical emission by inverse Campton scattering in the compact radio source (Cotton 1983). This paper will report on an analysis including new VLBI observations, infrared and optical imaging at KPNO and low frequency radio observations at CLRO of a number of these objects.

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 A low frequency study of linear polarization in radio galaxies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
V H Mahatma ◽  
M J Hardcastle ◽  
J Harwood ◽  
S P O’Sullivan ◽  
G Heald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flux Density ◽  
Angular Size ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Radio Galaxies ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Linearly Polarized ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Cent Detection

Abstract Radio galaxies are linearly polarized – an important property that allows us to infer the properties of the magnetic field of the source and its environment. However at low frequencies, Faraday rotation substantially depolarizes the emission, meaning that comparatively few polarized radio galaxies are known at low frequencies. Using the LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey at 150 MHz and at 20 arcsec resolution, we select 342 radio galaxies brighter than 50 mJy and larger than 100 arcsec in angular size, of which 67 are polarized (18 per cent detection fraction). These are predominantly Fanaroff Riley type II (FR-II) sources. The detection fraction increases with total flux density, and exceeds 50 per cent for sources brighter than 1 Jy. We compare the sources in our sample detected by LOFAR to those also detected in NVSS at 1400 MHz, and find that our selection bias toward bright radio galaxies drives a tendency for sources depolarized between 1400 and 150 MHz to have flatter spectra over that frequency range than those that remain polarized at 150 MHz. By comparing observed rotation measures with an analytic model we find that we are preferentially sensitive to sources in low mass environments. We also infer that sources with one polarized hotspot are inclined by a small angle to the line of sight, while sources with hotspots in both lobes lie in the plane of the sky. We conclude that low frequency polarization in radio galaxies is related to a combination of environment, flux density and jet orientation.

scholarly journals Blazars in the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey first data release

2019 ◽  
Vol 622 ◽  
pp. A14 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Mooney ◽  
J. Quinn ◽  
J. R. Callingham ◽  
R. Morganti ◽  
K. Duncan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Index ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Sample Distribution ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Data Release ◽  
Frequency Regime ◽  
Source Confusion ◽  
Bl Lacs

Historically, the blazar population has been poorly understood at low frequencies because survey sensitivity and angular resolution limitations have made it difficult to identify megahertz counterparts. We used the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) first data release value-added catalogue (LDR1) to study blazars in the low-frequency regime with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. We identified radio counterparts to all 98 known sources from the Third Fermi-LAT Point Source Catalogue (3FGL) or Roma-BZCAT Multi-frequency Catalogue of Blazars (5th edition) that fall within the LDR1 footprint. Only the 3FGL unidentified γ-ray sources (UGS) could not be firmly associated with an LDR1 source; this was due to source confusion. We examined the redshift and radio luminosity distributions of our sample, finding flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) to be more distant and more luminous than BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) on average. Blazars are known to have flat spectra in the gigahertz regime but we found this to extend down to 144 MHz, where the radio spectral index, α, of our sample is −0.17 ± 0.14. For BL Lacs, α = −0.13 ± 0.16 and for FSRQs, α = −0.15 ± 0.17. We also investigated the radio-to-γ-ray connection for the 30 γ-ray-detected sources in our sample. We find Pearson’s correlation coefficient is 0.45 (p = 0.069). This tentative correlation and the flatness of the spectral index suggest that the beamed core emission contributes to the low-frequency flux density. We compare our sample distribution with that of the full LDR1 on colour-colour diagrams, and we use this information to identify possible radio counterparts to two of the four UGS within the LDR1 field. We will refine our results as LoTSS continues.

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