Haystack Observatory VLBI Correlator

This report summarizes the activities of the Haystack Correlator during 2012. Highlights include finding a solution to the DiFX InfiniBand timeout problem and other DiFX software development, conducting a DBE comparison test following the First International VLBI Technology Workshop, conducting a Mark IV and DiFX correlator comparison, more broadband delay experiments, more u- VLBI Galactic Center observations, and conversion of RDV session processing to the Mark IV/HOPS path. Non-real-time e-VLBI transfers and engineering support of other correlators continued

A new lower Turonian mosasaurid from the Western Interior Seaway and the antiquity of the unique basicranial circulation pattern in Plioplatecarpinae

We describe and name a new mosasaur taxon, Sarabosaurus dahli gen. et sp. nov., from the lower Turonian part of the Tropic Shale in Utah, USA. The holotype specimen preserves significant portions of the skull and axial postcranial skeleton. It was found in the upper part of the Watinoceras devonense Ammonite Zone, bounded by radioisotopic dates above and below, and is thus about 93.7 Ma, the oldest mosasaurid taxon known from the Western Interior Seaway. The new taxon possesses a vascular pattern of the basisphenoid heretofore only seen in late diverging plioplatecarpine mosasaurids. Reevaluation of the morphology of the basisphenoid of previously described Turonian mosasaurs using μCT techniques reveals the derived condition is also present in Yaguasaurus and the incipient condition in Tethysaurus and Russellosaurus. In these two taxa, the canals enter the basisphenoid, but do not pass into the basioccipital. Instead, they exit only high on the posterior wall of the sella turcica, in a position similar to the basilar artery of other lizards. This vascular pattern, both in its incipient and derived states, is unique among squamates and supports inclusion of the aforementioned taxa in a monophyletic Plioplatecarpinae, for which we provide an emended diagnosis. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Sarabosaurus dahli gen. et sp. nov. as the sister taxon to Yaguarasaurus and all other later diverging plioplatecarpines, with Russellosaurus and Tethysaurus as successive sister taxa. Tylosaurine mosasaurids retain the primitive condition of the basisphenoid vascularization pattern and implies a tylosaurine-plioplatecarpine divergence in the late Cenomanian or earliest Turonian

Geology and taphonomy of a unique tyrannosaurid bonebed from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah: implications for tyrannosaurid gregariousness

Tyrannosaurids are hypothesized to be gregarious, possibly parasocial carnivores engaging in cooperative hunting and extended parental care. A tyrannosaurid (cf. Teratophoneus curriei) bonebed in the late Campanian age Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah, nicknamed the Rainbows and Unicorns Quarry (RUQ), provides the first opportunity to investigate possible tyrannosaurid gregariousness in a taxon unique to southern Laramidia. Analyses of the site’s sedimentology, fauna, flora, stable isotopes, rare earth elements (REE), charcoal content and taphonomy suggest a complex history starting with the deaths and transport of tyrannosaurids into a peri-fluvial, low-energy lacustrine setting. Isotopic and REE analyses of the fossil material yields a relatively homogeneous signature indicating the assemblage was derived from the same source and represents a fauna living in a single ecospace. Subsequent drying of the lake and fluctuating water tables simultaneously overprinted the bones with pedogenic carbonate and structurally weakened them through wet-dry cycling. Abundant charcoal recovered from the primary bone layer indicate a low temperature fire played a role in the site history, possibly triggering an avulsion that exhumed and reburied skeletal material on the margin of a new channel with minimal transport. Possible causes of mortality and concentration of the tyrannosaurids include cyanobacterial toxicosis, fire, and flooding, the latter being the preferred hypothesis. Comparisons of the RUQ site with other North American tyrannosaur bonebeds (Dry Island-Alberta; Daspletosaurus horneri-Montana) suggest all formed through similar processes. Combined with ichnological evidence, these tyrannosaur mass-burial sites could be part of an emerging pattern throughout Laramidia reflecting innate tyrannosaurid behavior such as habitual gregariousness

230 GHz VLBI OBSERVATIONS OF M87: EVENT‐HORIZON‐SCALE STRUCTURE DURING AN ENHANCED VERY‐HIGH‐ENERGY γ‐RAY STATE IN 2012

We report on 230 GHz (1.3 mm) very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of M87 with the Event Horizon Telescope using antennas on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, Mt. Graham in Arizona, and Cedar Flat in California. For the first time, we have acquired 230 GHz VLBI interferometric phase information on M87 through measurement of the closure phase on the triangle of long baselines. Most of the measured closure phases are consistent with 0° as expected by physically motivated models for 230 GHz structure such as jet models and accretion disk models. The brightness temperature of the event-horizon-scale structure is ~1 X 10[superscript 10] K derived from the compact flux density of ~1 Jy and the angular size of ~40 µas ~ 5.5 R[subscript s], which is broadly consistent with the peak brightness of the radio cores at 1–86 GHz located within ~10[superscript 2] R[subscript s]. Our observations occurred in the middle of an enhancement in very-high-energy (VHE) γ-ray flux, presumably originating in the vicinity of the central black hole. Our measurements, combined with results of multi-wavelength observations, favor a scenario in which the VHE region has an extended size of ~20–60 R[subscript s]

1.3 mm Wavelength VLBI of Sagittarius A*: Detection of Time-Variable Emission on Event Horizon Scales

Sagittarius A*, the ~4 x 10^6 solar mass black hole candidate at the Galactic Center, can be studied on Schwarzschild radius scales with (sub)millimeter wavelength Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). We report on 1.3 mm wavelength observations of Sgr A* using a VLBI array consisting of the JCMT on Mauna Kea, the ARO/SMT on Mt. Graham in Arizona, and two telescopes of the CARMA array at Cedar Flat in California. Both Sgr A* and the quasar calibrator 1924-292 were observed over three consecutive nights, and both sources were clearly detected on all baselines. For the first time, we are able to extract 1.3 mm VLBI interferometer phase information on Sgr A* through measurement of closure phase on the triangle of baselines. On the third night of observing, the correlated flux density of Sgr A* on all VLBI baselines increased relative to the first two nights, providing strong evidence for time-variable change on scales of a few Schwarzschild radii. These results suggest that future VLBI observations with greater sensitivity and additional baselines will play a valuable role in determining the structure of emission near the event horizon of Sgr A*.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to ApJ

VLBI Digital-Backend Intercomparison Test Report

Issues related to digital-backend (DBE) systems can be difficult to evaluate in either local tests or actual VLBI experiments. The 2nd DBE intercomparison workshop at Haystack Observatory on 25-26 October 2012 provided a forum to explicitly address validation and interoperability issues among independent global developers of DBE equipment. This special report discusses the workshop. It identifies DBE systems that were tested at the workshop, describes the test objectives and procedures, and reports and discusses the results of the testing