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Register a new userDetailed study of the ELAIS N1 field with the uGMRT - I. Characterizing the 325 MHz foreground for redshifted 21 cm observations
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Authors
Arnab Chakraborty
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In this first paper of the series, we present initial results of newly upgraded Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) observation of European Large-Area ISO Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1) at 325 MHz with 32 MHz bandwidth. Precise measurement of fluctuations in Galactic and extragalactic foreground emission as a function of frequency as well as angular scale is necessary for detecting redshifted 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen from Cosmic Dawn, Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and post-reionization epoch. Here, for the first time we have statistically quantified the Galactic and extragalactic foreground sources in the ELAIS-N1 field in the form of angular power spectrum using the newly developed Tapered Gridded Estimator (TGE). We have calibrated the data with and without direction-dependent calibration techniques. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of TGE against the direction dependent effects by using higher tapering of field of view (FoV). We have found that diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission (DGSE) dominates the sky, after point source subtraction, across the angular multipole range $ 1115 leqslant mathcal{ell} leqslant 5083 $ and $ 1565 leqslant mathcal{ell} leqslant 4754 $ for direction-dependent and -independent calibrated visibilities respectively. The statistical fluctuations in DGSE has been quantified as a power law of the form $mathcal{C}_{mathcal{ell}}= A mathcal{ell}^{-beta} $. The best fitted values of (A, $beta$) are ($ 62 pm 6$ $mK^{2}$, $2.55 pm 0.3 $) and ($ 48 pm 4$ $mK^{2}$, $2.28 pm 0.4 $ ) for the two different calibration approaches. For both the cases, the power law index is consistent with the previous measurements of DGSE in other parts of sky.
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Understanding the low-frequency radio sky in depth is necessary to subtract foregrounds in order to detect the redshifted 21 cm signal of neutral hydrogen from the Cosmic Dawn, Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and post-reionization era. In this second paper of the series, we present the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) observation of the ELAIS N1 field made at 300-500 MHz. The image covers an area of $sim 1.8$ $mathrm{deg}^{2}$ and has a central background rms noise of $sim$ 15 $mu mathrm{Jy}$ $mathrm{beam}^{-1}$. We present a radio source catalog containing 2528 sources (with flux densities > 100 $mu$Jy) and normalized source counts derived from that. The detailed comparison of detected sources with previous radio observations is shown. We discuss flux scale accuracy, positional offsets, spectral index distribution and correction factors in source counts. The normalized source counts are in agreement with previous observations of the same field, as well as model source counts from the Square Kilometre Array Design Study (SKADS) simulation. It shows a flattening below $sim$1 mJy which corresponds to rise in population of star forming galaxies and radio-quiet AGN. For the first time, we estimated the spectral characteristics of the angular power spectrum or Multi-Frequency Angular Power Spectrum (MFAPS) of diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission (DGSE) over the wide frequency bandwidth of $300-500$~MHz from radio interferometric observations. This work demonstrates the improved capabilities of the uGMRT.
We present observations of the European Large-Area {it ISO} Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1) at 325 MHz using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), with the ultimate objective of identifying active galactic nuclei and starburst galaxies and examining their evolution with cosmic epoch. After combining the data from two different days we have achieved a median rms noise of $approx40 mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$, which is the lowest that has been achieved at this frequency. We detect 1286 sources with a total flux density above $approx270 mu$Jy. In this paper, we use our deep radio image to examine the spectral indices of these sources by comparing our flux density estimates with those of Garn et al. at 610 MHz with the GMRT, and surveys with the Very Large Array at 1400 MHz. We attempt to identify very steep spectrum sources which are likely to be either relic sources or high-redshift objects as well as inverted-spectra objects which could be Giga-Hertz Peaked Spectrum objects. We present the source counts, and report the possibility of a flattening in the normalized differential counts at low flux densities which has so far been reported at higher radio frequencies.
One of the key science goals for the most sensitive telescopes, both current and upcoming, is the detection of the redshifted 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization. The success of detection relies on accurate foreground modeling for their removal from data sets. This paper presents the characterization of astrophysical sources in the Lockman Hole region. Using 325 MHz data obtained from the GMRT, a $6^circ times 6^circ$ mosaiced map is produced with an RMS reaching 50 $mu$Jy $mathrm{beam}^{-1}$. A source catalog containing 6186 sources is created, and the Euclidean normalized differential source counts have been derived from it, consistent with previous observations as well as simulations. A detailed comparison of the source catalog is also made with previous findings - at both lower and higher frequencies. The angular power spectrum (APS) of the diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission is determined for three different galactic latitudes using the Tapered Gridded Estimator. The values of the APS lie between $sim$1 mK$^2$ to $sim$100 mK$^2$. Fitting a power law of the form $Aell^{-beta}$ gives values of $A$ and $beta$ varying across the latitudes considered. This paper demonstrates, for the first time, the variation of the power-law index for diffuse emission at very high galactic locations. It follows the same trend that is seen at locations near the galactic plane, thus emphasizing the need for low-frequency observations for developing better models of the diffuse emission.
We present the first results from a series of observations conducted with the Westerbork telescope in the 140--160 MHz range with a 2 arcmin resolution aimed at characterizing the properties of the foregrounds for epoch of reionization experiments. For the first time we have detected fluctuations in the Galactic diffuse emission on scales greater than 13 arcmin at 150 MHz, in the low Galactic latitude area known as Fan region. Those fluctuations have an $rms$ of 14 K. The total intensity power spectrum shows a power--law behaviour down to $ell sim 900$ with slope $beta^I_ell = -2.2 pm 0.3$. The detection of diffuse emission at smaller angular scales is limited by residual point sources. We measured an $rms$ confusion noise of $sim$3 mJy beam$^{-1}$. Diffuse polarized emission was also detected for the first time at this frequency. The polarized signal shows complex structure both spatially and along the line of sight. The polarization power spectrum shows a power--law behaviour down to $ell sim 2700$ with slope $beta^P_ell = -1.65 pm 0.15$. The $rms$ of polarization fluctuations is 7.2 K on 4 arcmin scales. By extrapolating the measured spectrum of total intensity emission, we find a contamination on the cosmological signal of $delta T= sqrt{ell (ell+1) C^I_ell / 2pi} sim 5.7$ K on 5 arcmin scales and a corresponding $rms$ value of $sim$18.3 K at the same angular scale. The level of the polarization power spectrum is $delta T sim 3.3$ K on 5 arcmin scales. Given its exceptionally bright polarized signal, the Fan region is likely to represent an upper limit on the sky brightness at moderate and high Galactic latitude.
Experiments designed to measure the redshifted 21~cm line from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) are challenged by strong astrophysical foreground contamination, ionospheric distortions, complex instrumental response and other different types of noise (e.g. radio frequency interference). The astrophysical foregrounds are dominated by diffuse synchrotron emission from our Galaxy. Here we present a simulation of the Galactic emission used as a foreground module for the LOFAR- EoR key science project end-to-end simulations. The simulation produces total and polarized intensity over $10^circ times 10^circ$ maps of the Galactic synchrotron and free-free emission, including all observed characteristics of the emission: spatial fluctuations of amplitude and spectral index of the synchrotron emission, together with Faraday rotation effects. The importance of these simulations arise from the fact that the Galactic polarized emission could behave in a manner similar to the EoR signal along the frequency direction. As a consequence, an improper instrumental calibration will give rise to leakages of the polarized to the total signal and mask the desired EoR signal. In this paper we address this for the first time through realistic simulations.
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