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Register a new userThe POlarised GLEAM Survey (POGS) I: First Results from a Low-Frequency Radio Linear Polarisation Survey of the Southern Sky
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Christopher Riseley
Publication date
2018
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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The low-frequency polarisation properties of radio sources are poorly studied, particularly in statistical samples. However, the new generation of low-frequency telescopes, such as the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA; the precursor for the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array) offers an opportunity to probe the physics of radio sources at very low radio frequencies. In this paper, we present a catalogue of linearly-polarised sources detected at 216 MHz, using data from the Galactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) survey. Our catalogue covers the Declination range $-17^{circ}$ to $-37^{circ}$ and 24 hours in Right Ascension, at a resolution of around 3 arcminutes. We detect 81 sources (including both a known pulsar and new pulsar candidate) with linearly-polarised flux densities in excess of 18 mJy across a survey area of approximately 6400 square degrees, corresponding to a surface density of 1 source per 79 square degrees. The level of Faraday rotation measured for our sources is broadly consistent with those recovered at higher frequencies, with typically more than an order of magnitude improvement in the uncertainty compared to higher-frequency measurements. However, our catalogue is likely incomplete at low Faraday rotation measures, due to our practice of excluding sources in the region where instrumental leakage appears. The majority of sources exhibit significant depolarisation compared to higher frequencies; however, a small sub-sample repolarise at 216 MHz. We also discuss the polarisation properties of four nearby, large-angular-scale radio galaxies, with a particular focus on the giant radio galaxy ESO 422$-$G028, in order to explain the striking differences in polarised morphology between 216 MHz and 1.4 GHz.
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The low-frequency linearly-polarised radio source population is largely unexplored. However, a renaissance in low-frequency polarimetry has been enabled by pathfinder and precursor instruments for the Square Kilometre Array. In this second paper from the POlarised GaLactic and Extragalactic All-Sky Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) Survey -- the POlarised GLEAM Survey, or POGS -- we present the results from our all-sky MWA Phase I Faraday Rotation Measure survey. Our survey covers nearly the entire Southern sky in the Declination range $-82^{circ}$ to $+30^{circ}$ at a resolution between around three and seven arcminutes (depending on Declination) using data in the frequency range 169$-$231 MHz. We have performed two targeted searches: the first covering 25,489 square degrees of sky, searching for extragalactic polarised sources; the second covering the entire sky South of Declination $+30^{circ}$, searching for known pulsars. We detect a total of 517 sources with 200 MHz linearly-polarised flux densities between 9.9 mJy and 1.7 Jy, of which 33 are known radio pulsars. All sources in our catalogues have Faraday rotation measures in the range $-328.07$ rad m$^{-2}$ to $+279.62$ rad m$^{-2}$. The Faraday rotation measures are broadly consistent with results from higher-frequency surveys, but with typically more than an order of magnitude improvement in the precision, highlighting the power of low-frequency polarisation surveys to accurately study Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. We discuss the properties of our extragalactic and known-pulsar source population, how the sky distribution relates to Galactic features, and identify a handful of new pulsar candidates among our nominally extragalactic source population.
Using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the low-frequency Square Kilometre Array (SKA1 LOW) precursor located in Western Australia, we have completed the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) survey, and present the resulting extragalactic catalogue, utilising the first year of observations. The catalogue covers 24,831 square degrees, over declinations south of $+30^circ$ and Galactic latitudes outside $10^circ$ of the Galactic plane, excluding some areas such as the Magellanic Clouds. It contains 307,455 radio sources with 20 separate flux density measurements across 72--231MHz, selected from a time- and frequency- integrated image centred at 200MHz, with a resolution of $approx 2$. Over the catalogued region, we estimate that the catalogue is 90% complete at 170mJy, and 50% complete at 55mJy, and large areas are complete at even lower flux density levels. Its reliability is 99.97% above the detection threshold of $5sigma$, which itself is typically 50mJy. These observations constitute the widest fractional bandwidth and largest sky area survey at radio frequencies to date, and calibrate the low frequency flux density scale of the southern sky to better than 10%. This paper presents details of the flagging, imaging, mosaicking, and source extraction/characterisation, as well as estimates of the completeness and reliability. All source measurements and images are available online (http://www.mwatelescope.org/science/gleam-survey). This is the first in a series of publications describing the GLEAM survey results.
A new, meter-wave radio telescope has been built in the North-East of Mauritius, an island in the Indian ocean, at a latitude of -20.14 deg. The Mauritius Radio Telescope (MRT) is a Fourier Synthesis T-shaped array, consisting of a 2048 m long East-West arm and a 880 m long South arm. In the East-West arm 1024 fixed helices are arranged in 32 groups and in the South arm 16 trolleys, with four helices on each, which move on a rail are used. A 512 channel digital complex correlation receiver is used to measure the visibility function. At least 60 days of observing are required for obtaining the visibilities up to 880 m spacing. The Fourier transform of the calibrated visibilities produces a map of the area of the sky under observation with a synthesized beam width 4X 4.6sec(dec+20.14) at 151.5 MHz. The primary objective of the telescope is to produce a sky survey in the declination range -70 deg to -10 deg with a point source sensitivity of about 200 mJy (3-sigma level). This will be the southern sky equivalent of the Cambridge 6C survey. In this paper we describe the telescope, discuss the array design and the calibration techniques used, and present a map made using the telescope.
After a successful eleven-year campaign at Kitt Peak, we moved the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) to Cerro Tololo in early 2009. Here we present some of the early data after a few months under southern skies. These maps begin to complete the first all-sky, kinematic survey of the diffuse H-alpha emission from the Milky Way. Much of this emission arises from the Warm Ionized Medium (WIM), a significant component of the ISM that extends a few kiloparsecs above the Galactic disk. While this first look at the data focuses on the H-alpha survey, WHAM is also capable of observing many other optical emission lines, revealing fascinating trends in the temperature and ionization state of the WIM. Our ongoing studies of the physical conditions of diffuse ionized gas will continue from the southern hemisphere following the H-alpha survey. In addition, future observations will cover the full velocity range of the Magellanic Stream, Bridge, and Clouds to trace the ionized gas associated with these neighboring systems.
We present constraints on the abundance of carbon-monoxide in the early Universe from the CO Power Spectrum Survey (COPSS). We utilize a data set collected between 2005 and 2008 using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Array (SZA), which were previously used to measure arcminute-scale fluctuations of the CMB. This data set features observations of 44 fields, covering an effective area of 1.7 square degrees, over a frequency range of 27 to 35 GHz. Using the technique of intensity mapping, we are able to probe the CO(1-0) transition, with sensitivity to spatial modes between $k=0.5{-}2 h,textrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ over a range in redshift of $z=2.3{-}3.3$, spanning a comoving volume of $3.6times10^{6} h^{-3},textrm{Mpc}^{3}$. We demonstrate our ability to mitigate foregrounds, and present estimates of the impact of continuum sources on our measurement. We constrain the CO power spectrum to $P_{textrm{CO}}<2.6times10^{4} mutextrm{K}^{2} (h^{-1},textrm{Mpc})^{3}$, or $Delta^{2}_{textrm{CO}}(k! = ! 1 h,textrm{Mpc}^{-1})<1.3 times10^{3} mutextrm{K}^{2}$, at $95%$ confidence. This limit resides near optimistic predictions for the CO power spectrum. Under the assumption that CO emission is proportional to halo mass during bursts of active star formation, this corresponds to a limit on the ratio of $textrm{CO}(1{-}0)$ luminosity to host halo mass of $A_{textrm{CO}}<1.2times10^{-5} L_{odot} M_{odot}^{-1}$. Further assuming a Milky Way-like conversion factor between CO luminosity and molecular gas mass ($alpha_{textrm{CO}}=4.3 M_{odot} (textrm{K} textrm{km} textrm{s}^{-1} textrm{pc}^{-2})^{-1}$), we constrain the global density of molecular gas to $rho_{zsim3}(M_{textrm{H}_{2}})leq 2.8 times10^{8} M_{odot} textrm{Mpc}^{-3}$.
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