22 research outputs found
Design, Environmental and Sustainability Constraints of new African Observatories: The example of the Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory
The Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) will be a first milestone
towards development of radioastronomy in Mozambique. Development of MRAO will
constitute a preparation step towards participation in the upcoming Africa VLBI
Network and the Square Kilometer Array project. The MRAO first antenna is
planned to serve as a capacitation and training facility and will be installed
after the conversion of a 7-meter telecom dish in South Africa. Therefore, this
first radiotelescope design has to comply with local spectral and environmental
constraints. Furthermore, power availability and long term sustainability with
potential inclusion of solar power and control of Radio Frequency Interference
are analyzed. Here we outline some of the design, environmental and power
sustainability constraints.Comment: 5 pages, 3 Figures; Proceedings of the URSI BEJ Session 'Large Scale
Science Projects: Europa-Africa Connects', IEEE Africon 2013 Conference
Mauritius (9-12 Sep) 2013, Accepted for Publication at IEEE Xplorer, Nov 201
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA)
The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is a staged experiment to
measure 21 cm emission from the primordial intergalactic medium (IGM)
throughout cosmic reionization (), and to explore earlier epochs of our
Cosmic Dawn (). During these epochs, early stars and black holes
heated and ionized the IGM, introducing fluctuations in 21 cm emission. HERA is
designed to characterize the evolution of the 21 cm power spectrum to constrain
the timing and morphology of reionization, the properties of the first
galaxies, the evolution of large-scale structure, and the early sources of
heating. The full HERA instrument will be a 350-element interferometer in South
Africa consisting of 14-m parabolic dishes observing from 50 to 250 MHz.
Currently, 19 dishes have been deployed on site and the next 18 are under
construction. HERA has been designated as an SKA Precursor instrument.
In this paper, we summarize HERA's scientific context and provide forecasts
for its key science results. After reviewing the current state of the art in
foreground mitigation, we use the delay-spectrum technique to motivate
high-level performance requirements for the HERA instrument. Next, we present
the HERA instrument design, along with the subsystem specifications that ensure
that HERA meets its performance requirements. Finally, we summarize the
schedule and status of the project. We conclude by suggesting that, given the
realities of foreground contamination, current-generation 21 cm instruments are
approaching their sensitivity limits. HERA is designed to bring both the
sensitivity and the precision to deliver its primary science on the basis of
proven foreground filtering techniques, while developing new subtraction
techniques to unlock new capabilities. The result will be a major step toward
realizing the widely recognized scientific potential of 21 cm cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, 2 table
HI 21cm Cosmology and the Bi-spectrum: Closure Diagnostics in Massively Redundant Interferometric Arrays
New massively redundant low frequency arrays allow for a novel investigation
of closure relations in interferometry. We employ commissioning data from the
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array to investigate closure quantities in this
densely packed grid array of 14m antennas operating at 100 MHz to 200 MHz. We
investigate techniques that utilize closure phase spectra for redundant triads
to estimate departures from redundancy for redundant baseline visibilities. We
find a median absolute deviation from redundancy in closure phase across the
observed frequency range of about 4.5deg. This value translates into a
non-redundancy per visibility phase of about 2.6deg, using prototype
electronics. The median absolute deviations from redundancy decrease with
longer baselines. We show that closure phase spectra can be used to identify
ill-behaved antennas in the array, independent of calibration. We investigate
the temporal behavior of closure spectra. The Allan variance increases after a
one minute stride time, due to passage of the sky through the primary beam of
the transit telescope. However, the closure spectra repeat to well within the
noise per measurement at corresponding local sidereal times (LST) from day to
day. In future papers in this series we will develop the technique of using
closure phase spectra in the search for the HI 21cm signal from cosmic
reionization.Comment: 32 pages. 11 figures. Accepted to Radio Scienc
What does an interferometer really measure? Including instrument and data characteristics in the reconstruction of the 21cm power spectrum
Combining the visibilities measured by an interferometer to form a
cosmological power spectrum is a complicated process in which the window
functions play a crucial role. In a delay-based analysis, the mapping between
instrumental space, made of per-baseline delay spectra, and cosmological space
is not a one-to-one relation. Instead, neighbouring modes contribute to the
power measured at one point, with their respective contributions encoded in the
window functions. To better understand the power spectrum measured by an
interferometer, we assess the impact of instrument characteristics and analysis
choices on the estimator by deriving its exact window functions, outside of the
delay approximation. Focusing on HERA as a case study, we find that
observations made with long baselines tend to correspond to enhanced low-k
tails of the window functions, which facilitate foreground leakage outside the
wedge, whilst the choice of bandwidth and frequency taper can help narrow them
down. With the help of simple test cases and more realistic visibility
simulations, we show that, apart from tracing mode mixing, the window functions
can accurately reconstruct the power spectrum estimator of simulated
visibilities. We note that the window functions depend strongly on the
chromaticity of the beam, and less on its spatial structure - a Gaussian
approximation, ignoring side lobes, is sufficient. Finally, we investigate the
potential of asymmetric window functions, down-weighting the contribution of
low-k power to avoid foreground leakage. The window functions presented in this
work correspond to the latest HERA upper limits for the full Phase I data. They
allow an accurate reconstruction of the power spectrum measured by the
instrument and can be used in future analyses to confront theoretical models
and data directly in cylindrical space.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome
Characterization Of Inpaint Residuals In Interferometric Measurements of the Epoch Of Reionization
Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is one of the systematic challenges
preventing 21cm interferometric instruments from detecting the Epoch of
Reionization. To mitigate the effects of RFI on data analysis pipelines,
numerous inpaint techniques have been developed to restore RFI corrupted data.
We examine the qualitative and quantitative errors introduced into the
visibilities and power spectrum due to inpainting. We perform our analysis on
simulated data as well as real data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization
Array (HERA) Phase 1 upper limits. We also introduce a convolutional neural
network that capable of inpainting RFI corrupted data in interferometric
instruments. We train our network on simulated data and show that our network
is capable at inpainting real data without requiring to be retrained. We find
that techniques that incorporate high wavenumbers in delay space in their
modeling are best suited for inpainting over narrowband RFI. We also show that
with our fiducial parameters Discrete Prolate Spheroidal Sequences (DPSS) and
CLEAN provide the best performance for intermittent ``narrowband'' RFI while
Gaussian Progress Regression (GPR) and Least Squares Spectral Analysis (LSSA)
provide the best performance for larger RFI gaps. However we caution that these
qualitative conclusions are sensitive to the chosen hyperparameters of each
inpainting technique. We find these results to be consistent in both simulated
and real visibilities. We show that all inpainting techniques reliably
reproduce foreground dominated modes in the power spectrum. Since the
inpainting techniques should not be capable of reproducing noise realizations,
we find that the largest errors occur in the noise dominated delay modes. We
show that in the future, as the noise level of the data comes down, CLEAN and
DPSS are most capable of reproducing the fine frequency structure in the
visibilities of HERA data.Comment: 26 pages, 18 figure
Direct Optimal Mapping for 21cm Cosmology: A Demonstration with the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array
Motivated by the desire for wide-field images with well-defined statistical
properties for 21cm cosmology, we implement an optimal mapping pipeline that
computes a maximum likelihood estimator for the sky using the interferometric
measurement equation. We demonstrate this direct optimal mapping with data from
the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization (HERA) Phase I observations. After
validating the pipeline with simulated data, we develop a maximum likelihood
figure-of-merit for comparing four sky models at 166MHz with a bandwidth of
100kHz. The HERA data agree with the GLEAM catalogs to <10%. After subtracting
the GLEAM point sources, the HERA data discriminate between the different
continuum sky models, providing most support for the model of Byrne et al.
2021. We report the computation cost for mapping the HERA Phase I data and
project the computation for the HERA 320-antenna data; both are feasible with a
modern server. The algorithm is broadly applicable to other interferometers and
is valid for wide-field and non-coplanar arrays.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, published on Ap
Search for the Epoch of Reionisation with HERA: Upper Limits on the Closure Phase Delay Power Spectrum
Radio interferometers aiming to measure the power spectrum of the redshifted
21 cm line during the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) need to achieve an
unprecedented dynamic range to separate the weak signal from overwhelming
foreground emissions. Calibration inaccuracies can compromise the sensitivity
of these measurements to the effect that a detection of the EoR is precluded.
An alternative to standard analysis techniques makes use of the closure phase,
which allows one to bypass antenna-based direction-independent calibration.
Similarly to standard approaches, we use a delay spectrum technique to search
for the EoR signal. Using 94 nights of data observed with Phase I of the
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), we place approximate constraints
on the 21 cm power spectrum at . We find at 95% confidence that the 21
cm EoR brightness temperature is (372) "pseudo" mK at 1.14
"pseudo" Mpc, where the "pseudo" emphasises that these limits are to
be interpreted as approximations to the actual distance scales and brightness
temperatures. Using a fiducial EoR model, we demonstrate the feasibility of
detecting the EoR with the full array. Compared to standard methods, the
closure phase processing is relatively simple, thereby providing an important
independent check on results derived using visibility intensities, or related.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA
Improved Constraints on the 21 cm EoR Power Spectrum and the X-Ray Heating of the IGM with HERA Phase I Observations
We report the most sensitive upper limits to date on the 21 cm epoch of
reionization power spectrum using 94 nights of observing with Phase I of the
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). Using similar analysis techniques
as in previously reported limits (HERA Collaboration 2022a), we find at 95%
confidence that Mpc) mK at and that Mpc mK at , an improvement by a factor of 2.1 and 2.6 respectively. These limits are
mostly consistent with thermal noise over a wide range of after our data
quality cuts, despite performing a relatively conservative analysis designed to
minimize signal loss. Our results are validated with both statistical tests on
the data and end-to-end pipeline simulations. We also report updated
constraints on the astrophysics of reionization and the cosmic dawn. Using
multiple independent modeling and inference techniques previously employed by
HERA Collaboration (2022b), we find that the intergalactic medium must have
been heated above the adiabatic cooling limit at least as early as ,
ruling out a broad set of so-called "cold reionization" scenarios. If this
heating is due to high-mass X-ray binaries during the cosmic dawn, as is
generally believed, our result's 99% credible interval excludes the local
relationship between soft X-ray luminosity and star formation and thus requires
heating driven by evolved low-metallicity stars.Comment: 57 pages, 37 figures. Updated to match the accepted ApJ version.
Corresponding author: Joshua S. Dillo
Quest Volume 10 Number 2
Rural effluent disposal:A case for environmental education Lesley van Heerden and her team from Albert College, Prince Albert, show how we can all make a difference; Africa prepares for SKA: the African VLBI Network: Anita Loots and Mike Gaylard explain how Africa is becoming part of the global radio astronomy network; How are Antarctica and the Southern Ocean responding to climate change?: Mike Lucas, Kirti Gihwala and Michal Viskich explain how the Southern Ocean is Earth's 'freezer'; The unique pollinators of the Cape Floral Kingdom: Chris Johnson explains how an unlikely small mammal is vital to the health of the fynbos; The importance of the overlooked: the story of stingrays Chantel Elston describes the biology of this little-known species; Concrete and environmental sustainability: Olukayode Alao shows that concrete structures do not have to add to carbon emissions; Reframing climate change: Wilda Fourie-Basson shows how climate change is a social science issue; A skin photosensitivity atlas for South Africa; Caradee Wright looks at our sensitivity to the sun; News from the University of Pretoria: Beefing up efforts to breed with cattle • Study asks for ban on 4x4s in protected areas; Ostriches can't choke or taste; New technique finds anti-HIV compounds in indigenous plant species; Haviside's
dolphins on the West Coast are related; Images of long bones used to identify children; Decoding of Eucalyptus tree genome unlocks
new possibilities for renewable fibre, fuel, and biomaterials.Rural effluent disposal:A case for environmental education Lesley van Heerden and her team from Albert College, Prince Albert, show how we can all make a difference; Africa prepares for SKA: the African VLBI Network: Anita Loots and Mike Gaylard explain how Africa is becoming part of the global radio astronomy network; How are Antarctica and the Southern Ocean responding to climate change?: Mike Lucas, Kirti Gihwala and Michal Viskich explain how the Southern Ocean is Earth's 'freezer'; The unique pollinators of the Cape Floral Kingdom: Chris Johnson explains how an unlikely small mammal is vital to the health of the fynbos; The importance of the overlooked: the story of stingrays Chantel Elston describes the biology of this little-known species; Concrete and environmental sustainability: Olukayode Alao shows that concrete structures do not have to add to carbon emissions; Reframing climate change: Wilda Fourie-Basson shows how climate change is a social science issue; A skin photosensitivity atlas for South Africa; Caradee Wright looks at our sensitivity to the sun; News from the University of Pretoria: Beefing up efforts to breed with cattle • Study asks for ban on 4x4s in protected areas; Ostriches can't choke or taste; New technique finds anti-HIV compounds in indigenous plant species; Haviside's
dolphins on the West Coast are related; Images of long bones used to identify children; Decoding of Eucalyptus tree genome unlocks
new possibilities for renewable fibre, fuel, and biomaterials.Academy of Science of South Africa: Department of Science and InnovationAcademy of Science of South Africa: Department of Science and Innovatio