1,466 research outputs found
Extragalactic radio source evolution under the dual-population unification scheme
We show that a dual-population unification scheme provides a successful
paradigm with which to describe the evolution and beaming of all bright
extragalactic radio sources. The paradigm consists of two intrinsic
radio-source populations, based on the two distinct radio-galaxy morphologies
of Fanaroff-Riley classes I and II. These represent the `unbeamed' or `side-on'
parent populations of steep radio spectra; the `beamed' source types including
flat-spectrum quasars and BL Lac objects, arise through the random alignment of
their radio-axis to our line-of-sight where Doppler-beaming of the relativistic
radio jets produces highly anisotropic radio emission.Comment: 18 pages & 18 postscript figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The correlation function of radio sources
We investigate the large-scale clustering of radio sources in the Green Bank
and Parkes-MIT-NRAO 4.85 GHz surveys by measuring the angular two-point
correlation function w(\theta). Excluding contaminated areas, the two surveys
together cover 70 per cent of the whole sky. We find both surveys to be
reasonably complete above 50 mJy. On the basis of previous studies, the radio
sources are galaxies and radio-loud quasars lying at redshifts up to z \sim 4,
with a median redshift z \sim 1. This provides the opportunity to probe
large-scale structures in a volume far larger than that within the reach of
present optical and infrared surveys. We detect a clustering signal w(\theta)
\approx 0.01 for \theta = 1\degr. By assuming an evolving power-law spatial
correlation function in comoving coordinates \xi(r_c,z) = ( r_c / r_0
)^{-\gamma} (1+z)^{\gamma-(3+\epsilon)}, where \gamma = 1.8, and the redshift
distribution N(z) of the radio galaxies, we constrain the r_0--\epsilon
parameter space. For `stable clustering' (\epsilon = 0), we find the
correlation length r_0 \approx 18 Mpc/h, larger than the value for nearby
normal galaxies and comparable to the cluster-cluster correlation length.Comment: 8 pages, 7 ps figures included, LaTeX (mn,sty). Accepted by MNRA
Variance and Skewness in the FIRST survey
We investigate the large-scale clustering of radio sources in the FIRST
1.4-GHz survey by analysing the distribution function (counts in cells). We
select a reliable sample from the the FIRST catalogue, paying particular
attention to the problem of how to define single radio sources from the
multiple components listed. We also consider the incompleteness of the
catalogue. We estimate the angular two-point correlation function ,
the variance , and skewness of the distribution for the
various sub-samples chosen on different criteria. Both and
show power-law behaviour with an amplitude corresponding a spatial correlation
length of Mpc. We detect significant skewness in the
distribution, the first such detection in radio surveys. This skewness is found
to be related to the variance through , with
, consistent with the non-linear gravitational growth of
perturbations from primordial Gaussian initial conditions. We show that the
amplitude of variance and skewness are consistent with realistic models of
galaxy clustering.Comment: 13 pages, 21 inline figures, to appear in MNRA
The Deep Diffuse Extragalactic Radio Sky at 1.75 GHz
We present a study of diffuse extragalactic radio emission at GHz
from part of the ELAIS-S1 field using the Australia Telescope Compact Array.
The resulting mosaic is deg, with a roughly constant noise region
of deg used for analysis. The image has a beam size of arcsec and instrumental Jy beam. Using point-source models from the ATLAS survey, we
subtract the discrete emission in this field for Jy
beam. Comparison of the source-subtracted probability distribution, or
\pd, with the predicted distribution from unsubtracted discrete emission and
noise, yields an excess of Jy beam. Taking this as
an upper limit on any extended emission we constrain several models of extended
source counts, assuming arcmin. The best-fitting
models yield temperatures of the radio background from extended emission of
mK, giving an upper limit on the total temperature at
GHz of mK. Further modelling shows that our data are
inconsistent with the reported excess temperature of ARCADE2 to a source-count
limit of Jy. Our new data close a loop-hole in the previous
constraints, because of the possibility of extended emission being resolved out
at higher resolution. Additionally, we look at a model of cluster halo emission
and two WIMP dark matter annihilation source-count models, and discuss general
constraints on any predicted counts from such sources. Finally, we report the
derived integral count at GHz using the deepest discrete count plus our
new extended-emission limits, providing numbers that can be used for planning
future ultra-deep surveys.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, Accepted by MNRA
Effect of Gravitational Lensing on Measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect
The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect of a cluster of galaxies is usually
measured after background radio sources are removed from the cluster field.
Gravitational lensing by the cluster potential leads to a systematic deficit in
the residual intensity of unresolved sources behind the cluster core relative
to a control field far from the cluster center. As a result, the measured
decrement in the Rayleigh-Jeans temperature of the cosmic microwave background
is overestimated. We calculate the associated systematic bias which is
inevitably introduced into measurements of the Hubble constant using the SZ
effect. For the cluster A2218, we find that observations at 15 GHz with a beam
radius of 0'.4 and a source removal threshold of 100 microJy underestimate the
Hubble constant by 6-10%. If the profile of the gas pressure declines more
steeply with radius than that of the dark matter density, then the ratio of
lensing to SZ decrements increases towards the outer part of the cluster.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ
Radio Frequency Spectra of 388 Bright 74 MHz Sources
As a service to the community, we have compiled radio frequency spectra from
the literature for all sources within the VLA Low Frequency Sky Survey (VLSS)
that are brighter than 15 Jy at 74 MHz. Over 160 references were used to
maximize the amount of spectral data used in the compilation of the spectra,
while also taking care to determine the corrections needed to put the flux
densities from all reference on the same absolute flux density scale. With the
new VLSS data, we are able to vastly improve upon previous efforts to compile
spectra of bright radio sources to frequencies below 100 MHz because (1) the
VLSS flux densities are more reliable than those from some previous low
frequency surveys and (2) the VLSS covers a much larger area of the sky
(declination >-30 deg.) than many other low frequency surveys (e.g., the 8C
survey). In this paper, we discuss how the spectra were constructed and how
parameters quantifying the shapes of the spectra were derived. Both the spectra
and the shape parameters are made available here to assist in the calibration
of observations made with current and future low frequency radio facilities.Comment: Accepted to ApJ
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