scholarly journals A circular polarization survey for radio stars with the Australian SKA Pathfinder

2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (4) ◽  
pp. 5438-5454
Author(s):  
Joshua Pritchard ◽  
Tara Murphy ◽  
Andrew Zic ◽  
Christene Lynch ◽  
George Heald ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present results from a circular polarization survey for radio stars in the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS). RACS is a survey of the entire sky south of δ = +41○ being conducted with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope (ASKAP) over a 288 MHz wide band centred on 887.5 MHz. The data we analyse include Stokes I and V polarization products to an RMS sensitivity of 250 μJy PSF−1. We searched RACS for sources with fractional circular polarization above 6 per cent, and after excluding imaging artefacts, polarization leakage, and known pulsars we identified radio emission coincident with 33 known stars. These range from M-dwarfs through to magnetic, chemically peculiar A- and B-type stars. Some of these are well-known radio stars such as YZ CMi and CU Vir, but 23 have no previous radio detections. We report the flux density and derived brightness temperature of these detections and discuss the nature of the radio emission. We also discuss the implications of our results for the population statistics of radio stars in the context of future ASKAP and Square Kilometre Array surveys.

Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Bin Yu ◽  
Albert Zijlstra ◽  
Biwei Jiang

Radio emission from stars can be used, for example, to study ionized winds or stellar flares. The radio emission is faint and studies have been limited to few objects. The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) brings a survey ability to the topic of radio stars. In this paper we investigate what the SKA can detect, and what sensitivity will be required for deep surveys of the stellar Milky Way. We focus on the radio emission from OB stars, Be stars, flares from M dwarfs, and Ultra Compact HII regions. The stellar distribution in the Milky Way is simulated using the Besançon model, and various relations are used to predict their radio flux. We find that the full SKA will easily detect all UltraCompact HII regions. At the limit of 10 nJy at 5 GHz, the SKA can detect 1500 Be stars and 50 OB stars per square degree, out to several kpc. It can also detect flares from 4500 M dwarfs per square degree. At 100 nJy, the numbers become about 8 times smaller. SKA surveys of the Galactic plane should be designed for high sensitivity. Deep imaging should consider the significant number of faint flares in the field, even outside the plane of the Milky Way.


2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. A152
Author(s):  
R. Angioni ◽  
E. Ros ◽  
M. Kadler ◽  
R. Ojha ◽  
C. Müller ◽  
...  

Aims. This is the second paper in our series studying the evolution of parsec-scale radio emission in radio galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere. Following our study of the radio and high-energy properties of γ-ray-emitting sources, here we investigate the kinematic and spectral properties of the parsec-scale jets of radio galaxies that have not yet been detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) instrument on board NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. For many sources, these results represent the first milliarcsecond resolution information in the literature. These studies were conducted within the framework of the Tracking Active Nuclei with Austral Milliarcsecond Interferometry (TANAMI) monitoring program and in the context of high-energy γ-ray observations from Fermi-LAT. Methods. We took advantage of the regular 8.4 GHz and 22.3 GHz Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations provided by the TANAMI monitoring program, and explored the kinematic properties of six γ-ray-faint radio galaxies. We complemented this with ∼8.5 years of Fermi-LAT data, deriving updated upper limits on the γ-ray emission from this subsample of TANAMI radio galaxies. We included publicly available VLBI kinematics of γ-ray-quiet radio galaxies monitored by the MOJAVE program and performed a consistent Fermi-LAT analysis. We combined these results with those from our previous paper to construct the largest sample of radio galaxies with combined VLBI and γ-ray measurements to date. The connection between parsec-scale jet emission and high-energy properties in the misaligned jets of radio galaxies was explored. Results. For the first time, we report evidence of superluminal motion up to βapp = 3.6 in the jet of the γ-ray-faint radio galaxy PKS 2153−69. We find a clear trend of higher apparent speed as a function of distance from the jet core, which indicates that the jet is still being accelerated on scales of tens of parsecs, or ∼105 Rs, corresponding to the end of the collimation and acceleration zone in nearby radio galaxies. We find evidence of subluminal apparent motion in the jets of PKS 1258−321 and IC 4296, and no measurable apparent motion for PKS 1549−79, PKS 1733−565, and PKS 2027−308. For all these sources, TANAMI provides the first multi-epoch kinematic analysis on parsec scales. We then compare the VLBI properties of γ-ray-detected and undetected radio galaxies, and find that the two populations show a significantly different distribution of median core flux density, and, possibly, of median core brightness temperature. In terms of correlation between VLBI and γ-ray properties, we find a significant correlation between median core flux density and γ-ray flux, but no correlation with typical Doppler boosting indicators such as median core brightness temperature and core dominance. Conclusions. Our study suggests that high-energy emission from radio galaxies is related to parsec-scale radio emission from the inner jet, but is not driven by Doppler boosting effects, in contrast to the situation in their blazar counterparts. This implies that γ-ray loudness does not necessarily reflect a higher prevalence of boosting effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 655 ◽  
pp. A52
Author(s):  
F. Coti Zelati ◽  
B. Hugo ◽  
D. F. Torres ◽  
D. de Martino ◽  
A. Papitto ◽  
...  

We present the results of simultaneous observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar (tMSP) candidate CXOU J110926.4–650224 with the XMM-Newton satellite and the MeerKAT telescope. The source was found at an average X-ray luminosity of LX ≃ 7 × 1033 erg s−1 over the 0.3−10 keV band (assuming a distance of 4 kpc) and displayed a peculiar variability pattern in the X-ray emission, switching between high, low and flaring modes on timescales of tens of seconds. A radio counterpart was detected at a significance of 7.9σ with an average flux density of ≃33 μJy at 1.28 GHz. It showed variability over the course of hours and emitted a ≃10-min long flare just a few minutes after a brief sequence of multiple X-ray flares. No clear evidence for a significant correlated or anticorrelated variability pattern was found between the X-ray and radio emissions over timescales of tens of minutes and longer. CXOU J110926.4–650224 was undetected at higher radio frequencies in subsequent observations performed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, when the source was still in the same X-ray sub-luminous state observed before, down to a flux density upper limit of 15 μJy at 7.25 GHz (at 3σ). We compare the radio emission properties of CXOU J110926.4–650224 with those observed in known and candidate tMSPs and discuss physical scenarios that may account for its persistent and flaring radio emissions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S335) ◽  
pp. 11-13
Author(s):  
Mahender Aroori ◽  
G. Yellaiah ◽  
K. Chenna Reddy

AbstractRadio observations play a very important role in understanding the structure of the solar atmosphere. In this paper the quiet sun component of the solar radio emission has been investigated using data obtained from the Solar Indices Bulletin, National Geophysical Data Centre. By statistical method, the quiet sun component is estimated for 84 successive basic periods containing three solar rotations each using data obtained at different frequencies. From the quiet sun component we estimate the brightness temperature in each observing frequency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (1) ◽  
pp. 633-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
A A Vidotto ◽  
N Feeney ◽  
J H Groh

ABSTRACT New instruments and telescopes, such as SPIRou, CARMENES, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), will increase manyfold the number of known planets orbiting M dwarfs. To guide future radio observations, we estimate radio emission from known M dwarf planets using the empirical radiometric prescription derived in the Solar system, in which radio emission is powered by the wind of the host star. Using solar-like wind models, we find that the most promising exoplanets for radio detections are GJ 674 b and Proxima b, followed by YZ Cet b, GJ 1214 b, GJ 436 b. These are the systems that are the closest to us (<10 pc). However, we also show that our radio fluxes are very sensitive to the unknown properties of winds of M dwarfs. So, which types of winds would generate detectable radio emission? In a ‘reverse engineering’ calculation, we show that winds with mass-loss rates $\dot{M} \gtrsim \kappa _{\rm sw} /u_{\rm sw}^3$ would drive planetary radio emission detectable with present-day instruments, where usw is the local stellar wind velocity and κsw is a constant that depends on the size of the planet, distance, and orbital radius. Using observationally constrained properties of the quiescent winds of GJ 436 and Proxima Cen, we conclude that it is unlikely that GJ 436 b and Proxima b would be detectable with present-day radio instruments, unless the host stars generate episodic coronal mass ejections. GJ 674 b, GJ 876 b, and YZ Cet b could present good prospects for radio detection, provided that their host stars’ winds have $\dot{M} u_{\rm sw}^{3} \gtrsim 1.8\times 10^{-4} \, {\rm M}_\odot \,{\rm yr}^{-1}\, ({\rm km\,s^{-1}})^{3}$.


Electronics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayesha Kosar Fahad ◽  
Cunjun Ruan ◽  
Kanglong Chen

Transmissive metasurface-based dual-wide-band dual circular polarized operation is needed to facilitate volume and size reduction along with polarization diversity for future THz wireless communication. In this paper, a novel dual-wide-band THz linear polarization to circular polarization (LP-to-CP) converter is proposed using transmissive metasurfaces. It converts incident X polarized waves into transmitted left-hand circular polarized (LHCP) and right-hand circular polarized (RHCP) waves at two frequency bands. The structure consists of bi-layered metasurfaces having an outer conductor square ring and three inner conductor squares diagonally intersecting each other. The proposed converter works equally well with incident Y polarizations. Operational bandwidths for the dual-band LP-to-CP are 1.16 THz to 1.634 THz (34% fractional bandwidth) and 3.935 THz to 5.29 THz (29% fractional bandwidth). The electromagnetic simulation was carried out in two industry-standard software packages, High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) and Computer Simulation Technology (CST), using frequency and time domain solvers respectively. Close agreement between results depicts the validity and reliability of the proposed design. The idea is supported by equivalent circuits and physical mechanisms involved in the dual-wide-band dual polarization operation. The impact of different geometrical parameters of the unit cell on the performance of LP-to-CP operation is also investigated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (3) ◽  
pp. 3608-3615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Johnston ◽  
A Karastergiou ◽  
M J Keith ◽  
X Song ◽  
P Weltevrede ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We report here on initial results from the Thousand-Pulsar-Array (TPA) programme, part of the Large Survey Project ‘MeerTime’ on the MeerKAT telescope. The interferometer is used in the tied-array mode in the band from 856 to 1712 MHz, and the wide band coupled with the large collecting area and low receiver temperature make it an excellent telescope for the study of radio pulsars. The TPA is a 5 year project, which aims at to observing (a) more than 1000 pulsars to obtain high-fidelity pulse profiles, (b) some 500 of these pulsars over multiple epochs, and (c) long sequences of single-pulse trains from several hundred pulsars. The scientific outcomes from the programme will include the determination of pulsar geometries, the location of the radio emission within the pulsar magnetosphere, the connection between the magnetosphere and the crust and core of the star, tighter constraints on the nature of the radio emission itself, as well as interstellar medium studies. First, results presented here include updated dispersion measures, 26 pulsars with Faraday rotation measures derived for the first time, and a description of interesting emission phenomena observed thus far.


1994 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
P Foukal ◽  
T Moran

Imaging of active regions in continuum around 1.6 μm shows that many facular regions are less bright than the photosphere when observed nearer to disk center than μ = cos θ ~ 0.75. The contrast of these dark faculae increases with magnetic flux above a threshold of approximately 2 × 1018 Mx. This explains why not all faculae are dark at 1.6 μm, since the magnetic flux density in many regions of bright Ca K plage emission falls below this threshold. After correction for blurring, the typical contrast value is about 4-5%, so the brightness temperature deficit is about 130 K. Faculae are brighter than the photosphere at 1.63 μm nearer to the limb than μ ~ 0.5. The negative contrast of dark faculae may arise from cooling of the surrounding photosphere, or from increased visibility of cool layers of the facular flux tube itself. Quantitative comparison of these IR data with MHD models awaits calculation of flux tube contrasts at realistic angular resolution.


1980 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Gibson

A simple examination of Table I which lists the 26 positively detected “active” radio stars reveals that 21 are interacting binaries. Thus, on face value, membership in a close binary system would appear to be an important factor in producing conditions which favor stellar radio emission. However, this conclusion ignores the considerable biases which have characterized most of the surveys (c.f., references in Wendker 1978) made to date wherein selection criteria such as binarity itself, evidence for mass exchange, strong magnetic fields, optical activity, and similarity to previously detected systems have been cited. In very few cases (c.f., Gibson 1977) have complete samples (i.e., a uniform survey of all stars in a particular class to a given luminosity limit) been observed. Therefore, it is difficult to examine the role of binarity in stellar radio emission and draw conclusions which have statistical support. However, the body of radio star data does include observations of about 700 objects and thoughtful analyses of a carefully selected subset should reveal trends which, if they do not lead to firm conclusions, should at least point out the direction for future study.


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