1,342 research outputs found
Cygnus A super-resolved via convex optimisation from VLA data
We leverage the Sparsity Averaging Reweighted Analysis (SARA) approach for
interferometric imaging, that is based on convex optimisation, for the
super-resolution of Cyg A from observations at the frequencies 8.422GHz and
6.678GHz with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). The associated average
sparsity and positivity priors enable image reconstruction beyond instrumental
resolution. An adaptive Preconditioned Primal-Dual algorithmic structure is
developed for imaging in the presence of unknown noise levels and calibration
errors. We demonstrate the superior performance of the algorithm with respect
to the conventional CLEAN-based methods, reflected in super-resolved images
with high fidelity. The high resolution features of the recovered images are
validated by referring to maps of Cyg A at higher frequencies, more precisely
17.324GHz and 14.252GHz. We also confirm the recent discovery of a radio
transient in Cyg A, revealed in the recovered images of the investigated data
sets. Our matlab code is available online on GitHub.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures (3/7 animated figures), accepted for publication
in MNRA
VLA Observations of the Gravitational Lens System Q2237+0305
We report observations of the four-image gravitational lens system Q2237+0305
with the VLA at 20 cm and 3.6 cm. The quasar was detected at both frequencies
(\approx 0.7 mJy) with a flat spectrum. All four lensed images are clearly
resolved at 3.6 cm, and the agreement of the radio and optical image positions
is excellent. No radio emission is detected from the lensing galaxy, and any
fifth lensed quasar image must be fainter than \sim 20% of the A image flux
density. Since the optical quasar images are variable and susceptible to
extinction, radio flux ratios provide the best measurement of the macrolensing
magnification ratios. The radio B/A and C/A image flux ratios are consistent
with the observed range of optical variations, but the D/A ratio is
consistently higher in the radio than in the optical. The radio ratios are
consistent with magnification ratios predicted by lens models, and weaken
alternative interpretations for Q2237+0305. More accurate radio ratios can
distinguish between the models, as well as improve our understanding of both
microlensing and extinction in this system.Comment: 1 postscript file, 13 pages. To appear in AJ (1996.09), Submitted
1996.03.13, Accepted 1996.05.2
Gamma-ray Bursts, Classified Physically
From Galactic binary sources, to extragalactic magnetized neutron stars, to
long-duration GRBs without associated supernovae, the types of sources we now
believe capable of producing bursts of gamma-rays continues to grow apace. With
this emergent diversity comes the recognition that the traditional (and newly
formulated) high-energy observables used for identifying sub-classes does not
provide an adequate one-to-one mapping to progenitors. The popular
classification of some > 100 sec duration GRBs as ``short bursts'' is not only
an unpalatable retronym and syntactically oxymoronic but highlights the
difficultly of using what was once a purely phenomenological classification to
encode our understanding of the physics that gives rise to the events. Here we
propose a physically based classification scheme designed to coexist with the
phenomenological system already in place and argue for its utility and
necessity.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Slightly expanded version of solicited paper to
be published in the Proceedings of ''Gamma Ray Bursts 2007,'' Santa Fe, New
Mexico, November 5-9. Edited by E. E. Fenimore, M. Galassi, D. Palme
The spectral index image of the radio halo in the cluster Abell 520 hosting a famous bow shock
Synchrotron radio emission is being detected from an increasing number of
galaxy clusters. Spectral index images are a powerful tool to investigate the
origin, nature, and connection of these sources with the dynamical state of the
cluster. The aim of this work is to investigate the spectral index distribution
of the radio halo in the galaxy cluster A520, a complex system from an optical,
radio, and X-ray point of view. We present deep Very Large Array observations
in total intensity at 325 and 1400 MHz. We produced and analyzed spectral index
images of the radio halo in this frequency range at a resolution of 39" and 60"
and looked for possible correlations with the thermal properties of the
cluster. We find an integrated radio halo spectral index alpha(325-1400) ~
1.12. No strong radial steepening is present and the spectral index
distribution is intrinsically complex with fluctuations only partially due to
measurement errors. The radio halo integrated spectral index and the cluster
temperature follow the global trend observed in other galaxy clusters although
a strong point-to-point correlation between the spectral index and the thermal
gas temperature has not been observed. The complex morphology in the spectral
index image of the radio halo in A520 is in agreement with the primary models
for radio halo formation. The flatness of the radial profile suggests that the
merger is still ongoing and is uniformly and continuously (re-) accelerating
the population of relativistic electrons responsible of the radio emission even
at large (~ 1 Mpc) distances from the cluster center.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, A&A accepte
Relativistic and slowing down: the flow in the hotspots of powerful radio galaxies and quasars
Pairs of radio emitting jets with lengths up to several hundred kiloparsecs
emanate from the central region (the `core') of radio loud active galaxies.
In the most powerful of them, these jets terminate in the `hotspots', compact
high brightness regions, where the jet flow collides with the intergalactic
medium (IGM). Although it has long been established that in their inner
(parsec) regions these jet flows are relativistic, it is still not clear
if they remain so at their largest (hundreds of kiloparsec) scales. We argue
that the X-ray, optical and radio data of the hotspots, despite their
at-first-sight disparate properties, can be unified in a scheme involving a
relativistic flow upstream of the hotspot that decelerates to the
sub-relativistic speed of its inferred advance through the IGM and viewed at
different angles to its direction of motion. This scheme, besides providing an
account of the hotspot spectral properties with jet orientation, it also
suggests that the large-scale jets remain relativistic all the way to the
hotspots.Comment: to appear in ApJ
The Expanded Very Large Array
In almost 30 years of operation, the Very Large Array (VLA) has proved to be
a remarkably flexible and productive radio telescope. However, the basic
capabilities of the VLA have changed little since it was designed. A major
expansion utilizing modern technology is currently underway to improve the
capabilities of the VLA by at least an order of magnitude in both sensitivity
and in frequency coverage. The primary elements of the Expanded Very Large
Array (EVLA) project include new or upgraded receivers for continuous frequency
coverage from 1 to 50 GHz, new local oscillator, intermediate frequency, and
wide bandwidth data transmission systems to carry signals with 16 GHz total
bandwidth from each antenna, and a new digital correlator with the capability
to process this bandwidth with an unprecedented number of frequency channels
for an imaging array. Also included are a new monitor and control system and
new software that will provide telescope ease of use. Scheduled for completion
in 2012, the EVLA will provide the world research community with a flexible,
powerful, general-purpose telescope to address current and future astronomical
issues.Comment: Added journal reference: published in Proceedings of the IEEE,
Special Issue on Advances in Radio Astronomy, August 2009, vol. 97, No. 8,
1448-1462 Six figures, one tabl
Absolute Calibration of the Radio Astronomy Flux Density Scale at 22 to 43 GHz Using Planck
The Planck mission detected thousands of extragalactic radio sources at
frequencies from 28 to 857 GHz. Planck's calibration is absolute (in the sense
that it is based on the satellite's annual motion around the Sun and the
temperature of the cosmic microwave background), and its beams are well
characterized at sub-percent levels. Thus Planck's flux density measurements of
compact sources are absolute in the same sense. We have made coordinated VLA
and ATCA observations of 65 strong, unresolved Planck sources in order to
transfer Planck's calibration to ground-based instruments at 22, 28, and 43
GHz. The results are compared to microwave flux density scales currently based
on planetary observations. Despite the scatter introduced by the variability of
many of the sources, the flux density scales are determined to 1-2% accuracy.
At 28 GHz, the flux density scale used by the VLA runs 3.6% +- 1.0% below
Planck values; at 43 GHz, the discrepancy increases to 6.2% +- 1.4% for both
ATCA and the VLA.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures and 4 table
The Radio Luminosity Function of the NEP Distant Cluster Radio Galaxies
A complete sample of 18 X-ray selected clusters of galaxies belonging to the
ROSAT North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) survey has been observed with the Very Large
Array at 1.4 GHz. These are the most distant clusters in the X-ray survey with
redshift in the range 0.3 < z < 0.8.Seventy-nine radio sources are detected
within half an Abell radius with an observed peak brightness >=0.17 mJy/beam,
except for three sources, belonging to the same cluster, which have a higher
peak brightness limit of 0.26 mJy/beam. The NEP field source counts are in good
agreement with the source counts of a comparison survey, the VLA-VIRMOS deep
field survey, indicating that the NEP sample is statistically complete.
Thirty-two out of the 79 sources are within 0.2 Abell radii, twenty-two of them
are considered cluster members based on spectroscopic redshifts or their
optical magnitude and morphological classification. The cluster radio galaxies
are used to construct the Radio Luminosity Function (RLF) of distant X-ray
selected clusters. A comparison with two nearby cluster RLFs shows that the NEP
RLF lies above the local ones, has a steeper slope at low radio powers (<=
10^(24) W/Hz) and shows no evidence for a break at about 6 X 10^(24) W/Hz which
is observed in the nearby cluster RLFs. We discuss briefly the origin and
possible explanations of the differences observed in the radio properties of
nearby and distant clusters of galaxies. The main result of this study is that
the RLF of the distant X-ray clusters is very different from that of the local
rich Abell clusters.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, Latex file with use of bib.tex. To appear in
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Main Journal. To appear in Astronomy and
Astrophysics Main Journal. To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Main
Journa
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