51 research outputs found
Extreme radio-wave scattering associated with hot stars
We use data on extreme radio scintillation to demonstrate that this
phenomenon is associated with hot stars in the solar neighbourhood. The ionized
gas responsible for the scattering is found at distances up to 1.75pc from the
host star, and on average must comprise 1.E5 distinct structures per star. We
detect azimuthal velocities of the plasma, relative to the host star, up to 9.7
km/s, consistent with warm gas expanding at the sound speed. The circumstellar
plasma structures that we infer are similar in several respects to the cometary
knots seen in the Helix, and in other planetary nebulae. There the ionized gas
appears as a skin around tiny molecular clumps. Our analysis suggests that
molecular clumps are ubiquitous circumstellar features, unrelated to the
evolutionary state of the star. The total mass in such clumps is comparable to
the stellar mass.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Ap
Revealing two radio active galactic nuclei extremely near PSR J04374715
Newton's gravitational constant may vary with time at an extremely low
level. The time variability of will affect the orbital motion of a
millisecond pulsar in a binary system and cause a tiny difference between the
orbital period-dependent measurement of the kinematic distance and the direct
measurement of the annual parallax distance. PSR J04374715 is the nearest
millisecond pulsar and the brightest at radio. To explore the feasibility of
achieving a parallax distance accuracy of one light-year, comparable to the
recent timing result, with the technique of differential astrometry, we
searched for compact radio sources quite close to PSR J04374715. Using
existing data from the Very Large Array and the Australia Telescope Compact
Array, we detected two sources with flat spectra, relatively stable flux
densities of 0.9 and 1.0 mJy at 8.4 GHz and separations of 13 and 45 arcsec.
With a network consisting of the Long Baseline Array and the Kunming 40-m radio
telescope, we found that both sources have a point-like structure and a
brightness temperature of 10 K. According to these radio inputs and
the absence of counterparts in the other bands, we argue that they are most
likely the compact radio cores of extragalactic active galactic nuclei rather
than Galactic radio stars. The finding of these two radio active galactic
nuclei will enable us to achieve a sub-pc distance accuracy with the in-beam
phase-referencing very-long-baseline interferometric observations and provide
one of the most stringent constraints on the time variability of in the
near future.Comment: 9 pages, 3 tables, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Finding Extremely Compact Sources Using the ASKAP VAST Survey
VLBI observations of intraday variable (IDV) quasars found in the MASIV (Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability) 5 GHz VLA Survey of 500 flat-spectrum sources in the northern sky have shown that these sources are extremely compact, often unresolved, on milliarcsecond scales, and more core-dominated than their non-IDV counterparts. VAST: an ASKAP Survey for Variables and Slow Transients, proposes to observe 10,000 square degrees of southern sky daily for 2 years in the VAST-Wide survey component. This is expected to reveal of order 30,000 compact sources brighter than 10 mJy showing refractive interstellar scintillation (the cause of centimeter-wavelength IDV) at the survey frequency of about 1.4 GHz. Many of these sources may be suitable astrometric calibrators for VLBI at higher frequencies
Time domain studies of Active Galactic Nuclei with the Square Kilometre Array
Variability of radio-emitting active galactic nuclei can be used to probe both intrinsic variations arising from shocks, flares, and other changes in emission from regions surrounding the central supermassive black hole, as well as extrinsic variations due to scattering by structures in our own Galaxy. Such interstellar scattering also probes the structure of the emitting regions, with microarcsecond resolution. Current studies have necessarily been limited to either small numbers of objects monitored over long periods of time, or large numbers of objects but with poor time sampling. The dramatic increase in survey speed engendered by the Square Kilometre Array will enable precision synoptic monitoring studies of hundreds of thousands of sources with a cadence of days or less. Statistics of variability, in particular concurrent observations at multiple radio frequencies and in other bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, will probe accretion physics over a wide range of AGN classes, luminosities, and orientations, as well as enabling a detailed understanding of the structures responsible for radio wave scattering in the Galactic interstellar medium
ALMA observations of PKS 1549-79: A case of feeding and feedback in a young radio quasar
We present CO(1-0) and CO(3-2) ALMA observations of the molecular gas in PKS
1549-79, as well as mm and VLBI 2.3-GHz continuum observations of its radio
jet. PKS 1549-79 is one of the closest young, radio-loud quasars caught in an
on-going merger in which the AGN is in the first phases of its evolution. We
detect three structures tracing the accretion and the outflow of molecular gas:
kpc-scale tails of gas accreting onto PKS 1549-79, a circumnuclear disc (CND)
in the inner few hundred parsec, and a very broad (>2300 \kms) component
detected in CO(1-0) at the position of the AGN. Thus, in PKS 1549-79 we see the
co-existence of accretion and the ejection of gas. The line ratio
CO(1-0)/CO(3-2) suggests that the gas in the CND has both high densities and
high kinetic temperatures. We estimate a mass outflow rate of at least 650
msun/yr. This massive outflow is confined to r < 120 pc, which suggests that
the AGN drives the outflow. Considering the amount of molecular gas available
in CND and the observed outflow rate, we estimate a time scale of ~10^5 yr over
which the AGN would be able to destroy the CND, although gas from the merger
may come in from larger radii, rebuilding this disc at the same time. The AGN
appears to self-regulate gas accretion onto the super-massive black hole. From
a comparison with HST data, we find that the ionised gas outflow is more
extended. Nevertheless, the warm outflow is about two orders of magnitude less
massive than the molecular outflow. PKS 1549-79 does not seem to follow the
scaling relation between bolometric luminosity and the relative importance of
warm ionised and molecular outflows claimed to exist for other AGN. We argue
that, although PKS 1549-79 hosts a powerful quasar nucleus and an ultra-fast
outflow, the radio jet plays a significant role in producing the outflow.Comment: Accepted for A&A Main Journa
First geodetic observations using new VLBI stations ASKAP-29 and WARK12M
We report the results of a successful 7 hour 1.4 GHz VLBI experiment using
two new stations, ASKAP-29 located in Western Australia and WARK12M located on
the North Island of New Zealand. This was the first geodetic VLBI observing
session with the participation of these new stations. We have determined the
positions of ASKAP-29 and WARK12M. Random errors on position estimates are
150-200 mm for the vertical component and 40-50 mm for the horizontal
component. Systematic errors caused by the unmodeled ionosphere path delay may
reach 1.3 m for the vertical component.Comment: 11 pages, 6 flgures, 4 table
VLBA Observations of Sub-Parsec Structure in Mrk 231: Interaction between a Relativistic Jet and a BAL Wind
We report on the first high frequency VLBI observations of the nearby broad
absorption line quasar (BALQSO), Mrk 231. Three epochs of observations were
achieved at 15 GHz and 22 GHz, two of these included 43 GHz observations as
well. The nuclear radio source is resolved as a compact double. The core
component experienced a strong flare in which the flux density at 22 GHz
increased by (45 mJy) in three months. Theoretical models of the flare
imply that the emission is likely enhanced by very strong Doppler boosting of a
highly relativistic ejecta with a kinetic energy flux, . Combining our data with two previous epochs of 15 GHz data,
shows marginal evidence for the slow advance of the secondary component
(located pc from the core) over a 9.4 year span. We estimate
that the long term time averaged kinetic energy flux of the secondary at
. Low frequency VLBA observations
indicate that the secondary is seen through a shroud of free-free absorbing gas
with an emission measure of . The
steep spectrum secondary component appears to be a compact radio lobe that is
associated with a working surface between the ram-pressure confined jet, and a
dense medium that is likely to be the source of the free-free absorption. The
properties of the dense gas are consistent with the temperatures, displacement
from the nucleus and the column density of total hydrogen commonly associated
with the BAL wind.Comment: To appear in Ap
Optical study of PKS B1322-110, the intra-hour variable radio source
Observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array revealed intra-hour
variations in the radio source PKS B1322-110 (Bignall et al. 2019). As part of
an optical follow-up, we obtained Gemini Halpha and Halpha continuum (HalphaC)
images of the PKS B1322-110 field. A robust 19-sigma detection of PKS B1322-110
in the Halpha-HalphaC image prompted us to obtain the first optical spectrum of
PKS B1322-110. With the Gemini spectrum we determine that PKS B1322-110 is a
flat-spectrum radio quasar at a redshift of z=3.007 +/- 0.002. The apparent
flux detected in the Halpha filter is likely to originate from HeII emission
redshifted precisely on the Galactic Halpha narrow-band filter. We set upper
limits on the emission measure of the Galactic plasma, for various possible
cloud geometries
- …