1,203 research outputs found
High-Fidelity VLA Imaging of the Radio Structure of 3C273
3C273, the nearest bright quasar, comprises a strong nuclear core and a
bright, one-sided jet extending ~ 23 arcseconds to the SW. The source has been
the subject of imaging campaigns in all wavebands. Extensive observations of
this source have been made with the Very Large Array and other telescopes as
part of a campaign to understand the jet emission mechanisms. Partial results
from the VLA radio campaign have been published, but to date, the complete set
of VLA imaging results has not been made available. We have utilized the VLA to
determine the radio structure of 3C273 in Stokes I, Q, and U, over the widest
possible frequency and resolution range. The VLA observed the source in all
four of its configurations, and with all eight of its frequency bands, spanning
73.8 MHz to 43 GHz. The data were taken in a pseudo-spectral line mode to
minimize the VLA's correlator errors, and were fully calibrated with subsequent
self-calibration techniques to maximise image fidelity. Images in Stokes
parameters I, Q, and U, spanning a resolution range from 6 arcseconds to 88
milliarcseconds are presented. Spectral index images, showing the evolution of
the jet component are shown. Polarimetry demonstrates the direction of the
magnetic fields responsible for the emission, and rotation measure maps show
the RM to be very small with no discernible trend along or across the jet. This
paper presents a small subset of these images to demonstrate the major
characteristics of the source emission. A library of all ~500 images has been
made available for open, free access by interested parties.Comment: 9 pages, 17 figure
A new technique to improve RFI suppression in radio interferometers
Radio interferometric observations are less susceptible to radio frequency
interference (RFI) than single dish observations. This is primarily due to :
(1)fringe-frequency averaging at the correlator output and (2) bandwidth
decorrelation of broadband RFI. Here, we propose a new technique to improve RFI
suppression of interferometers by replacing the fringe-frequency averaging
process with a different filtering process. In the digital implementation of
the correlator, such a filter should have cutoff frequencies times
the frequency at which the baseband signals are sampled. We show that filters
with such cutoff frequencies and attenuation 40 dB at frequencies above the
cutoff frequency can be realized using multirate filtering techniques.
Simulation of a two element interferometer system with correlator using
multirate filters shows that the RFI suppression at the output of the
correlator can be improved by 40 dB or more compared to correlators using a
simple averaging process.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; Invited talk given at IVS Symposium in Korea --
New Technologies in VLBI, Korea, Nov 2002; to appear in the conference
proceedings (Added answers to the questions during the discussion session
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
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
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
- …