First astrophysical observations with the low frequency all sky monitor

The Low Frequency All Sky Monitor (LoFASM) is a radio telescope that consists of dipole antennas. It is sensitive to the frequencies of 10-88MHz. The primary science goals of LoFASM are to detect and study low frequency radio transient events and to develop and test low frequency interference (RFI) mitigation techniques. Once a telescope starts collecting data, it is necessary to calibrate the telescope to convert the data into standard units. This will allow for scientific deductions to be made from the data. Once the calibration of a telescope is complete it is necessary to determine what astrophysical sources are observable from it and how sensitive the telescope is. This thesis describes the process that is taken to calibrate the LoFASM stations using the Galaxy, as well as initial sensitivity findings towards different astrophysical sources

Optimization of NANOGrav's Time Allocation for Maximum Sensitivity to Single Sources

Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) are a collection of precisely timed millisecond pulsars (MSPs) that can search for gravitational waves (GWs) in the nanohertz frequency range by observing characteristic signatures in the timing residuals. The sensitivity of a PTA depends on the direction of the propagating gravitational wave source, the timing accuracy of the pulsars, and the allocation of the available observing time. The goal of this paper is to determine the optimal time allocation strategy among the MSPs in the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) for a single source of GW under a particular set of assumptions. We consider both an isotropic distribution of sources across the sky and a specific source in the Virgo cluster. This work improves on previous efforts by modeling the effect of intrinsic spin noise for each pulsar. We find that, in general, the array is optimized by maximizing time spent on the best-timed pulsars, with sensitivity improvements typically ranging from a factor of 1.5 to 4.Comment: Accepted by Astrophyiscal Journa

Optimization of NANOGrav\u27s Time Allocation for Maximum Sensitivity to Single Sources

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are a collection of precisely timed millisecond pulsars (MSPs) that can search for gravitational waves (GWs) in the nanohertz frequency range by observing characteristic signatures in the timing residuals. The sensitivity of a PTA depends on the direction of the propagating GW source, the timing accuracy of the pulsars, and the allocation of the available observing time. The goal of this paper is to determine the optimal time allocation strategy among the MSPs in the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) for a single source of GW under a particular set of assumptions. We consider both an isotropic distribution of sources across the sky and a specific source in the Virgo cluster. This work improves on previous efforts by modeling the effect of intrinsic spin noise for each pulsar. We find that, in general, the array is optimized by maximizing time spent on the best-timed pulsars, with sensitivity improvements typically ranging from a factor of 1.5 to 4