Sub-arcsecond imaging with the International LOFAR Telescope I. Foundational calibration strategy and pipeline

The International LOFAR Telescope is an interferometer with stations spread across Europe. With baselines of up to ~2000 km, LOFAR has the unique capability of achieving sub-arcsecond resolution at frequencies below 200 MHz. However, it is technically and logistically challenging to process LOFAR data at this resolution. To date only a handful of publications have exploited this capability. Here we present a calibration strategy that builds on previous high-resolution work with LOFAR. It is implemented in a pipeline using mostly dedicated LOFAR software tools and the same processing framework as the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). We give an overview of the calibration strategy and discuss the special challenges inherent to enacting high-resolution imaging with LOFAR, and describe the pipeline, which is publicly available, in detail. We demonstrate the calibration strategy by using the pipeline on P205+55, a typical LoTSS pointing with an 8 h observation and 13 international stations. We perform in-field delay calibration, solution referencing to other calibrators in the field, self-calibration of these calibrators, and imaging of example directions of interest in the field. We find that for this specific field and these ionospheric conditions, dispersive delay solutions can be transferred between calibrators up to ~1.5° away, while phase solution transferral works well over ~1°. We also demonstrate a check of the astrometry and flux density scale with the in-field delay calibrator source. Imaging in 17 directions, we find the restoring beam is typically ~0.3′′ ×0.2′′ although this varies slightly over the entire 5 deg2 field of view. We find we can achieve ~80–300 μJy bm−1 image rms noise, which is dependent on the distance from the phase centre; typical values are ~90 μJy bm−1 for the 8 h observation with 48 MHz of bandwidth. Seventy percent of processed sources are detected, and from this we estimate that we should be able to image roughly 900 sources per LoTSS pointing. This equates to ~ 3 million sources in the northern sky, which LoTSS will entirely cover in the next several years. Future optimisation of the calibration strategy for efficient post-processing of LoTSS at high resolution makes this estimate a lower limit

Sub-arcsecond imaging with the International LOFAR Telescope. I.: Foundational calibration strategy and pipeline

InstrumentationGalaxie

VLBI tracking of the Huygens Probe in the atmosphere of Titan

We present results of an assessment study of VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) observations of the Huygens probe during the probe's descent through the atmosphere to the surface of Titan. The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of a direct receipt, detection and VLBI processing of the probe's S-band radio signal. The direct receipt of the probe signal by Earth-based tracking stations was not foreseen in the original mission scenario but has proven to be possible owing to recent developments in radio astronomy, and particularly in VLBI. We analyze the power budget of the "Huygens-Earth" radio link, the potential accuracy of the VLBI determination of the probe's coordinates in the atmosphere of Titan, and some scientific applications of these measurements. We also discuss prospects for VLBI tracking of future deep space missions using the next generation Earth-based radio telescopes, in particular the Square Kilometer Array (SKA)

Wide-band, low-frequency pulse profiles of 100 radio pulsars with LOFAR

Context: LOFAR offers the unique capability of observing pulsars across the 10−240 MHz frequency range with a fractional bandwidth of roughly 50%. This spectral range is well suited for studying the frequency evolution of pulse profile morphology caused by both intrinsic and extrinsic effects such as changing emission altitude in the pulsar magnetosphere or scatter broadening by the interstellar medium, respectively. Aims: The magnitude of most of these effects increases rapidly towards low frequencies. LOFAR can thus address a number of open questions about the nature of radio pulsar emission and its propagation through the interstellar medium. Methods: We present the average pulse profiles of 100 pulsars observed in the two LOFAR frequency bands: high band (120–167 MHz, 100 profiles) and low band (15–62 MHz, 26 profiles). We compare them with Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) and Lovell Telescope observations at higher frequencies (350 and 1400 MHz) to study the profile evolution. The profiles were aligned in absolute phase by folding with a new set of timing solutions from the Lovell Telescope, which we present along with precise dispersion measures obtained with LOFAR. Results: We find that the profile evolution with decreasing radio frequency does not follow a specific trend; depending on the geometry of the pulsar, new components can enter into or be hidden from view. Nonetheless, in general our observations confirm the widening of pulsar profiles at low frequencies, as expected from radius-to-frequency mapping or birefringence theories

Cassiopeia A, Cygnus A, Taurus A, and Virgo A at ultra-low radio frequencies

Contains fulltext : 218356.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

LOFAR tied-array imaging of Type III solar radio bursts

Context:\ud The Sun is an active source of radio emission which is often associated with energetic phenomena such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). At low radio frequencies (<100 MHz), the Sun has not been imaged extensively because of the instrumental limitations of previous radio telescopes. \ud \ud Aims:\ud Here, the combined high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) was used to study solar Type III radio bursts at 30–90 MHz and their association with CMEs.\ud \ud Methods:\ud The Sun was imaged with 126 simultaneous tied-array beams within ≤5 R⊙ of the solar centre. This method offers benefits over standard interferometric imaging since each beam produces high temporal (~83 ms) and spectral resolution (12.5 kHz) dynamic spectra at an array of spatial locations centred on the Sun. LOFAR’s standard interferometric output is currently limited to one image per second. \ud \ud Results:\ud Over a period of 30 min, multiple Type III radio bursts were observed, a number of which were found to be located at high altitudes (~4 R⊙ from the solar center at 30 MHz) and to have non-radial trajectories. These bursts occurred at altitudes in excess of values predicted by 1D radial electron density models. The non-radial high altitude Type III bursts were found to be associated with the expanding flank of a CME. \ud \ud Conclusions:\ud The CME may have compressed neighbouring streamer plasma producing larger electron densities at high altitudes, while the non-radial burst trajectories can be explained by the deflection of radial magnetic fields as the CME expanded in the low corona