215 research outputs found
Commensal observing with the Allen Telescope array: software command and control
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a Large-Number-Small-Diameter radio
telescope array currently with 42 individual antennas and 5 independent
back-end science systems (2 imaging FX correlators and 3 time domain beam
formers) located at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO). The goal of the ATA
is to run multiple back-ends simultaneously, supporting multiple science
projects commensally. The primary software control systems are based on a
combination of Java, JRuby and Ruby on Rails. The primary control API is
simplified to provide easy integration with new back-end systems while the
lower layers of the software stack are handled by a master observing system.
Scheduling observations for the ATA is based on finding a union between the
science needs of multiple projects and automatically determining an efficient
path to operating the various sub-components to meet those needs. When
completed, the ATA is expected to be a world-class radio telescope, combining
dedicated SETI projects with numerous radio astronomy science projects.Comment: SPIE Conference Proceedings, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for
Astronomy, Nicole M. Radziwill; Alan Bridger, Editors, 77400Z, Vol 774
The Medium Is the Danger: Discourse about Television among Amish and Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women
This study shows how Old Order Amish and ultra-Orthodox women’s discourse about television can help develop a better understanding of the creation, construction, and strengthening of limits and boundaries separating enclave cultures from the world. Based on questionnaires containing both closed- and open-ended questions completed by 82 participants, approximately half from each community, I argue that both communities can be understood as interpretive communities that negatively interpret not only television content, like other religious communities, but also the medium itself. Their various negative interpretive strategies is discussed and the article shows how they are part of an “us-versus-them” attitude created to mark the boundaries and walls that enclave cultures build around themselves. The comparison between the two communities found only a few small differences but one marked similarity: The communities perceive avoidance of a tool for communication, in this case television, as part of the communities’ sharing, participation, and common culture
Negotiating agency: Amish and ultra-Orthodox women’s responses to the Internet
This study explores how women in two devout religious communities cope with the Internet and its apparent incompatibility with their communities’ values and practices. Questionnaires containing both closed and open-ended questions were completed by 82 participants, approximately half from each community. While their discourses included similar framings of danger and threat, the two groups manifested different patterns of Internet use (and nonuse). Rigorous adherence to religious dictates is greatly admired in these communities, and the women take pride in manipulating their status in them. Their agency is reflected in how they negotiate the tension inherent in their roles as both gatekeepers and agents-of-change, which are analyzed as valuable currencies in their cultural and religious markets
Allen Telescope Array Multi-Frequency Observations of the Sun
We present the first observations of the Sun with the Allen Telescope Array
(ATA). We used up to six frequencies, from 1.43 to 6 GHz, and baselines from 6
to 300 m. To our knowledge, these are the first simultaneous multifrequency
full-Sun maps obtained at microwave frequencies without mosaicing. The
observations took place when the Sun was relatively quiet, although at least
one active region was present each time. We present multi-frequency flux
budgets for each sources on the Sun. Outside of active regions, assuming
optically thin bremsstrahlung (free--free) coronal emission on top of an
optically thick ~10 000 K chromosphere, the multi-frequency information can be
condensed into a single, frequency-independent, "coronal bremsstrahlung
contribution function" [EM/sqrt(T)] map. This technique allows the separation
of the physics of emission as well as a measurement of the density structure of
the corona. Deviations from this simple relationship usually indicate the
presence of an additional gyroresonance-emission component, as is typical in
active regions.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Solar Physic
The Allen Telescope Array Pi GHz Sky Survey I. Survey Description and Static Catalog Results for the Bootes Field
The Pi GHz Sky Survey (PiGSS) is a key project of the Allen Telescope Array.
PiGSS is a 3.1 GHz survey of radio continuum emission in the extragalactic sky
with an emphasis on synoptic observations that measure the static and
time-variable properties of the sky. During the 2.5-year campaign, PiGSS will
twice observe ~250,000 radio sources in the 10,000 deg^2 region of the sky with
b > 30 deg to an rms sensitivity of ~1 mJy. Additionally, sub-regions of the
sky will be observed multiple times to characterize variability on time scales
of days to years. We present here observations of a 10 deg^2 region in the
Bootes constellation overlapping the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey field. The
PiGSS image was constructed from 75 daily observations distributed over a
4-month period and has an rms flux density between 200 and 250 microJy. This
represents a deeper image by a factor of 4 to 8 than we will achieve over the
entire 10,000 deg^2. We provide flux densities, source sizes, and spectral
indices for the 425 sources detected in the image. We identify ~100$ new flat
spectrum radio sources; we project that when completed PiGSS will identify 10^4
flat spectrum sources. We identify one source that is a possible transient
radio source. This survey provides new limits on faint radio transients and
variables with characteristic durations of months.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; revision submitted with extraneous
figure remove
The Allen Telescope Array Twenty-centimeter Survey - A 690-Square-Degree, 12-Epoch Radio Dataset - I: Catalog and Long-Duration Transient Statistics
We present the Allen Telescope Array Twenty-centimeter Survey (ATATS), a
multi-epoch (12 visits), 690 square degree radio image and catalog at 1.4GHz.
The survey is designed to detect rare, very bright transients as well as to
verify the capabilities of the ATA to form large mosaics. The combined image
using data from all 12 ATATS epochs has RMS noise sigma = 3.94mJy / beam and
dynamic range 180, with a circular beam of 150 arcsec FWHM. It contains 4408
sources to a limiting sensitivity of S = 20 mJy / beam. We compare the catalog
generated from this 12-epoch combined image to the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS),
a legacy survey at the same frequency, and find that we can measure source
positions to better than ~20 arcsec. For sources above the ATATS completeness
limit, the median flux density is 97% of the median value for matched NVSS
sources, indicative of an accurate overall flux calibration. We examine the
effects of source confusion due to the effects of differing resolution between
ATATS and NVSS on our ability to compare flux densities. We detect no
transients at flux densities greater than 40 mJy in comparison with NVSS, and
place a 2-sigma upper limit on the transient rate for such sources of 0.004 per
square degree. These results suggest that the > 1 Jy transients reported by
Matsumura et al. (2009) may not be true transients, but rather variable sources
at their flux density threshold.Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures, ApJ accepted; corrected minor typo in Table
The Allen Telescope Array Pi GHz Sky Survey I. Survey Description and Static Catalog Results for the Bootes Field
The Pi GHz Sky Survey (PiGSS) is a key project of the Allen Telescope Array.
PiGSS is a 3.1 GHz survey of radio continuum emission in the extragalactic sky
with an emphasis on synoptic observations that measure the static and
time-variable properties of the sky. During the 2.5-year campaign, PiGSS will
twice observe ~250,000 radio sources in the 10,000 deg^2 region of the sky with
b > 30 deg to an rms sensitivity of ~1 mJy. Additionally, sub-regions of the
sky will be observed multiple times to characterize variability on time scales
of days to years. We present here observations of a 10 deg^2 region in the
Bootes constellation overlapping the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey field. The
PiGSS image was constructed from 75 daily observations distributed over a
4-month period and has an rms flux density between 200 and 250 microJy. This
represents a deeper image by a factor of 4 to 8 than we will achieve over the
entire 10,000 deg^2. We provide flux densities, source sizes, and spectral
indices for the 425 sources detected in the image. We identify ~100$ new flat
spectrum radio sources; we project that when completed PiGSS will identify 10^4
flat spectrum sources. We identify one source that is a possible transient
radio source. This survey provides new limits on faint radio transients and
variables with characteristic durations of months.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; revision submitted with extraneous
figure remove
Millisecond Imaging of Radio Transients with the Pocket Correlator
We demonstrate a signal processing concept for imaging the sky at millisecond
rates with radio interferometers. The "Pocket Correlator" (PoCo) correlates the
signals from multiple elements of a radio interferometer fast enough to image
brief, dispersed pulses. By the nature of interferometry, a millisecond
correlator functions like a large, single-dish telescope, but with improved
survey speed, spatial localization, calibration, and interference rejection. To
test the concept, we installed PoCo at the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to
search for dispersed pulses from the Crab pulsar, B0329+54, and M31 using
total-power, visibility-based, and image-plane techniques. In 1.7 hours of
observing, PoCo detected 191 giant pulses from the Crab pulsar brighter than a
typical 5 sigma sensitivity limit of 60 Jy over pulse widths of 3 milliseconds.
Roughly 40% of pulses from pulsar B0329+54 were detected by using novel
visibility-based techniques. Observations of M31 constrain the rate of pulses
brighter than 190 Jy in a three degree region surrounding the galaxy to
<4.3/hr. We calculate the computational demand of various visibility-based
pulse search algorithms and demonstrate how compute clusters can help meet this
demand. Larger implementations of the fast imaging concept will conduct blind
searches for millisecond pulses in our Galaxy and beyond, providing a valuable
probe of the interstellar/intergalactic media, discovering new kinds of radio
transients, and localizing them to constrain models of their origin.Comment: 13 pages, accepted to Ap
The Medium Is the Danger: Discourse about Television among Amish and Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Women
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