17 research outputs found
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA)
The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is a staged experiment to
measure 21 cm emission from the primordial intergalactic medium (IGM)
throughout cosmic reionization (), and to explore earlier epochs of our
Cosmic Dawn (). During these epochs, early stars and black holes
heated and ionized the IGM, introducing fluctuations in 21 cm emission. HERA is
designed to characterize the evolution of the 21 cm power spectrum to constrain
the timing and morphology of reionization, the properties of the first
galaxies, the evolution of large-scale structure, and the early sources of
heating. The full HERA instrument will be a 350-element interferometer in South
Africa consisting of 14-m parabolic dishes observing from 50 to 250 MHz.
Currently, 19 dishes have been deployed on site and the next 18 are under
construction. HERA has been designated as an SKA Precursor instrument.
In this paper, we summarize HERA's scientific context and provide forecasts
for its key science results. After reviewing the current state of the art in
foreground mitigation, we use the delay-spectrum technique to motivate
high-level performance requirements for the HERA instrument. Next, we present
the HERA instrument design, along with the subsystem specifications that ensure
that HERA meets its performance requirements. Finally, we summarize the
schedule and status of the project. We conclude by suggesting that, given the
realities of foreground contamination, current-generation 21 cm instruments are
approaching their sensitivity limits. HERA is designed to bring both the
sensitivity and the precision to deliver its primary science on the basis of
proven foreground filtering techniques, while developing new subtraction
techniques to unlock new capabilities. The result will be a major step toward
realizing the widely recognized scientific potential of 21 cm cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, 2 table
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Foreground modelling via Gaussian process regression: An application to HERA data
The key challenge in the observation of the redshifted 21-cm signal from
cosmic reionization is its separation from the much brighter foreground
emission. Such separation relies on the different spectral properties of the
two components, although, in real life, the foreground intrinsic spectrum is
often corrupted by the instrumental response, inducing systematic effects that
can further jeopardize the measurement of the 21-cm signal. In this paper, we
use Gaussian Process Regression to model both foreground emission and
instrumental systematics in hours of data from the Hydrogen Epoch of
Reionization Array. We find that a simple co-variance model with three
components matches the data well, giving a residual power spectrum with white
noise properties. These consist of an "intrinsic" and instrumentally corrupted
component with a coherence-scale of 20 MHz and 2.4 MHz respectively (dominating
the line of sight power spectrum over scales h
cMpc) and a baseline dependent periodic signal with a period of
MHz (dominating over h cMpc) which should
be distinguishable from the 21-cm EoR signal whose typical coherence-scales is
MHz
Recommended from our members
Foreground modelling via Gaussian process regression: An application to HERA data
The key challenge in the observation of the redshifted 21-cm signal from
cosmic reionization is its separation from the much brighter foreground
emission. Such separation relies on the different spectral properties of the
two components, although, in real life, the foreground intrinsic spectrum is
often corrupted by the instrumental response, inducing systematic effects that
can further jeopardize the measurement of the 21-cm signal. In this paper, we
use Gaussian Process Regression to model both foreground emission and
instrumental systematics in hours of data from the Hydrogen Epoch of
Reionization Array. We find that a simple co-variance model with three
components matches the data well, giving a residual power spectrum with white
noise properties. These consist of an "intrinsic" and instrumentally corrupted
component with a coherence-scale of 20 MHz and 2.4 MHz respectively (dominating
the line of sight power spectrum over scales h
cMpc) and a baseline dependent periodic signal with a period of
MHz (dominating over h cMpc) which should
be distinguishable from the 21-cm EoR signal whose typical coherence-scales is
MHz
HI 21cm Cosmology and the Bi-spectrum: Closure Diagnostics in Massively Redundant Interferometric Arrays
New massively redundant low frequency arrays allow for a novel investigation
of closure relations in interferometry. We employ commissioning data from the
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array to investigate closure quantities in this
densely packed grid array of 14m antennas operating at 100 MHz to 200 MHz. We
investigate techniques that utilize closure phase spectra for redundant triads
to estimate departures from redundancy for redundant baseline visibilities. We
find a median absolute deviation from redundancy in closure phase across the
observed frequency range of about 4.5deg. This value translates into a
non-redundancy per visibility phase of about 2.6deg, using prototype
electronics. The median absolute deviations from redundancy decrease with
longer baselines. We show that closure phase spectra can be used to identify
ill-behaved antennas in the array, independent of calibration. We investigate
the temporal behavior of closure spectra. The Allan variance increases after a
one minute stride time, due to passage of the sky through the primary beam of
the transit telescope. However, the closure spectra repeat to well within the
noise per measurement at corresponding local sidereal times (LST) from day to
day. In future papers in this series we will develop the technique of using
closure phase spectra in the search for the HI 21cm signal from cosmic
reionization.Comment: 32 pages. 11 figures. Accepted to Radio Scienc
Foreground modelling via Gaussian process regression: an application to HERA data
The key challenge in the observation of the redshifted 21-cm signal from cosmic reionization
is its separation from the much brighter foreground emission. Such separation relies on the
different spectral properties of the two components, although, in real life, the foreground
intrinsic spectrum is often corrupted by the instrumental response, inducing systematic effects
that can further jeopardize the measurement of the 21-cm signal. In this paper, we use Gaussian
Process Regression to model both foreground emission and instrumental systematics in ∼2 h
of data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array. We find that a simple co-variance
model with three components matches the data well, giving a residual power spectrum with
white noise properties. These consist of an ‘intrinsic’ and instrumentally corrupted component
with a coherence scale of 20 and 2.4 MHz, respectively (dominating the line-of-sight power
spectrum over scales k ≤ 0.2 h cMpc−1) and a baseline-dependent periodic signal with a period of ∼1 MHz (dominating over k ∼ 0.4–0.8 h cMpc−1), which should be distinguishable
from the 21-cm Epoch of Reionization signal whose typical coherence scale is ∼0.8 MH
The 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 Image
We present the confusion-limited 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 image covering one qb » ¢ 68 FWHM primarybeam area with θ = 7 6 FWHM resolution and s = m - n 0.55 0.01 Jy beam 1 rms noise. Its J2000 center position
α = 04h 13m 26 4, δ = −80° 00′ 00″ was selected to minimize artifacts caused by bright sources. We introduce
the new 64-element MeerKAT array and describe commissioning observations to measure the primary-beam
attenuation pattern, estimate telescope pointing errors, and pinpoint (u, v) coordinate errors caused by offsets in
frequency or time. We constructed a 1.4 GHz differential source count by combining a power-law count fit to the
DEEP2 confusion P(D) distribution from 0.25 to 10 μJy with counts of individual DEEP2 sources between 10 μJy
and 2.5 mJy. Most sources fainter than S ∼ 100 μJy are distant star-forming galaxies (SFGs) obeying the far-IR/
radio correlation, and sources stronger than 0.25 μJy account for ∼93% of the radio background produced by
SFGs. For the first time, the DEEP2 source count has reached the depth needed to reveal the majority of the star
formation history of the universe. A pure luminosity evolution of the 1.4 GHz local luminosity function consistent
with the Madau & Dickinson model for the evolution of SFGs based on UV and infrared data underpredicts our
1.4 GHz source count in the range -5 log Jy 4 [ ( )] S
The MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey: I. Survey overview and highlights
Please abstract in the article.The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the National Research Foundation (NRF), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, US National Science Foundation, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the DSI/NRF, the SARAO HCD programme, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation.http://www.aanda.orghj2022Physic
Recommended from our members
Foreground modelling via Gaussian process regression: An application to HERA data
The key challenge in the observation of the redshifted 21-cm signal from cosmic reionization is its separation from the much brighter foreground emission. Such separation relies on the different spectral properties of the two components, although, in real life, the foreground intrinsic spectrum is often corrupted by the instrumental response, inducing systematic effects that can further jeopardize the measurement of the 21-cm signal. In this paper, we use Gaussian Process Regression to model both foreground emission and instrumental systematics in ∼2 h of data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array. We find that a simple co-variance model with three components matches the data well, giving a residual power spectrum with white noise properties. These consist of an 'intrinsic' and instrumentally corrupted component with a coherence scale of 20 and 2.4 MHz, respectively (dominating the line-of-sight power spectrum over scales kâ ≤ 0.2 h cMpc-1) and a baseline-dependent periodic signal with a period of ∼1 MHz (dominating over kâ ∼0.4-0.8 h cMpc-1), which should be distinguishable from the 21-cm Epoch of Reionization signal whose typical coherence scale is ∼0.8 MHz