24,918 research outputs found
Simulating full-sky interferometric observations
Aperture array interferometers, such as that proposed for the Square
Kilometre Array (SKA), will see the entire sky, hence the standard approach to
simulating visibilities will not be applicable since it relies on a tangent
plane approximation that is valid only for small fields of view. We derive
interferometric formulations in real, spherical harmonic and wavelet space that
include contributions over the entire sky and do not rely on any tangent plane
approximations. A fast wavelet method is developed to simulate the visibilities
observed by an interferometer in the full-sky setting. Computing visibilities
using the fast wavelet method adapts to the sparse representation of the
primary beam and sky intensity in the wavelet basis. Consequently, the fast
wavelet method exhibits superior computational complexity to the real and
spherical harmonic space methods and may be performed at substantially lower
computational cost, while introducing only negligible error to simulated
visibilities. Low-resolution interferometric observations are simulated using
all of the methods to compare their performance, demonstrating that the fast
wavelet method is approximately three times faster that the other methods for
these low-resolution simulations. The computational burden of the real and
spherical harmonic space methods renders these techniques computationally
infeasible for higher resolution simulations. High-resolution interferometric
observations are simulated using the fast wavelet method only, demonstrating
and validating the application of this method to realistic simulations. The
fast wavelet method is estimated to provide a greater than ten-fold reduction
in execution time compared to the other methods for these high-resolution
simulations.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, replaced to match version accepted by MNRAS
(major additions to previous version including new fast wavelet method
Compressed sensing for wide-field radio interferometric imaging
For the next generation of radio interferometric telescopes it is of
paramount importance to incorporate wide field-of-view (WFOV) considerations in
interferometric imaging, otherwise the fidelity of reconstructed images will
suffer greatly. We extend compressed sensing techniques for interferometric
imaging to a WFOV and recover images in the spherical coordinate space in which
they naturally live, eliminating any distorting projection. The effectiveness
of the spread spectrum phenomenon, highlighted recently by one of the authors,
is enhanced when going to a WFOV, while sparsity is promoted by recovering
images directly on the sphere. Both of these properties act to improve the
quality of reconstructed interferometric images. We quantify the performance of
compressed sensing reconstruction techniques through simulations, highlighting
the superior reconstruction quality achieved by recovering interferometric
images directly on the sphere rather than the plane.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, replaced to match version accepted by MNRA
Sky reconstruction from transit visibilities: PAON-4 and Tianlai Dish Array
The spherical harmonics -mode decomposition is a powerful sky map
reconstruction method suitable for radio interferometers operating in transit
mode. It can be applied to various configurations, including dish arrays and
cylinders. We describe the computation of the instrument response function, the
point spread function (PSF), transfer function, the noise covariance matrix and
noise power spectrum. The analysis in this paper is focused on dish arrays
operating in transit mode. We show that arrays with regular spacing have more
pronounced side lobes as well as structures in their noise power spectrum,
compared to arrays with irregular spacing, specially in the north-south
direction. A good knowledge of the noise power spectrum
is essential for intensity mapping experiments as
non uniform is a potential problem for the
measurement of the HI power spectrum. Different configurations have been
studied to optimise the PAON-4 and Tianlai dish array layouts. We present their
expected performance and their sensitivities to the 21-cm emission of the Milky
Way and local extragalactic HI clumpsComment: 20 pages, 18 figures - Submitted to MNRAS ( the appendix A,B are not
included in the accepted version
Sky reconstruction for the Tianlai cylinder array
In this paper, we apply our sky map reconstruction method for transit type
interferometers to the Tianlai cylinder array. The method is based on the
spherical harmonic decomposition, and can be applied to cylindrical array as
well as dish arrays and we can compute the instrument response, synthesised
beam, transfer function and the noise power spectrum. We consider cylinder
arrays with feed spacing larger than half wavelength, and as expected, we find
that the arrays with regular spacing have grating lobes which produce spurious
images in the reconstructed maps. We show that this problem can be overcome,
using arrays with different feed spacing on each cylinder. We present the
reconstructed maps, and study the performance in terms of noise power spectrum,
transfer function and beams for both regular and irregular feed spacing
configurations.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted by RA
Mapping Exoplanets
The varied surfaces and atmospheres of planets make them interesting places
to live, explore, and study from afar. Unfortunately, the great distance to
exoplanets makes it impossible to resolve their disk with current or near-term
technology. It is still possible, however, to deduce spatial inhomogeneities in
exoplanets provided that different regions are visible at different
times---this can be due to rotation, orbital motion, and occultations by a
star, planet, or moon. Astronomers have so far constructed maps of thermal
emission and albedo for short period giant planets. These maps constrain
atmospheric dynamics and cloud patterns in exotic atmospheres. In the future,
exo-cartography could yield surface maps of terrestrial planets, hinting at the
geophysical and geochemical processes that shape them.Comment: Updated chapter for Handbook of Exoplanets, eds. Deeg & Belmonte. 17
pages, including 6 figures and 4 pages of reference
Ellipsoidal primary of the RS CVn binary zeta And: Investigation using high-resolution spectroscopy and optical interferometry
We have obtained high-resolution spectroscopy, optical interferometry, and
long-term broad band photometry of the ellipsoidal primary of the RS CVn-type
binary system zeta And. Based on the optical interferometry the apparent limb
darkened diameter of zeta And is 2.55 +/- 0.09 mas using a uniform disk fit.
The Hipparcos distance and the limb-darkened diameter obtained with a uniform
disk fit give stellar radius of 15.9 +/- 0.8 Rsolar, and combined with
bolometric luminosity, it implies an effective temperature of 4665 +/- 140 K.
The temperature maps obtained from high resolution spectra using Doppler
imaging show a strong belt of equatorial spots and hints of a cool polar cap.
The equatorial spots show a concentration around the phase 0.75. This spot
configuration is reminiscent of the one seen in the earlier published
temperature maps of zeta And. Investigation of the Halpha line reveals both
prominences and cool clouds in the chromosphere. Long-term photometry spanning
12 years shows hints of a spot activity cycle, which is also implied by the
Doppler images, but the cycle length cannot be reliably determined from the
current data.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for A&
Complex Visibilities of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies
We study the complex visibilities of the cosmic microwave background
anisotropies that are observables in interferometric observations of the cosmic
microwave background, using the multipole expansion methods commonly adopted in
analyzing single-dish experiments. This allows us to recover the properties of
the visibilities that is obscured in the flat-sky approximation. Discussions of
the window function, multipole resolution, instrumental noise, pixelization,
and polarization are given.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure include
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