No Arabic abstract
The radio bright zone (RBZ) at the Galactic center has been observed with the JVLA in the A, B and C array configurations at 5.5 and 9 GHz. With a procedure for high-dynamic range imaging developed on CASA, we constructed deep images a resolution up to 0.2, achieving rms noises of a few $mu$Jy/beam. From the high-resolution and high-dynamics range images at 5.5 and 9 GHz, a population of compact radio sources ranging from a few mJy to a few tens $mu$Jy in flux density is revealed. The steep-spectrum radio sources in RBZ are likely the candidates of high-energy objects that are associated with neutron stars and/or stellar mass black holes at the Galactic center. We report new results of the Cannonball and Galactic center transient (GCT).
Using JVLA data obtained from high-resolution observations at 5.5 GHz at multiple epochs in 2014 and 2019, we have detected a population of radio variables and transients in the radio bright zone at the Galactic center. With observations covering a sky area of 180 arcmin$^2$ at an angular resolution of 0.4 arcsec, we report new detections of 110 Galactic center compact radio (GCCR) sources with a size of $<1$ arcsec. The flux densities of GCCRs exceed 70 $mu$Jy, with at least 10$sigma$ significance. Among these sources, 82 are variable or transient and 28 are non-variable. About 10% of them are expected to be extragalactic background sources. We discuss the possible astrophysical nature of the detected sources. As compared to the Galactic disk (GD) population of normal pulsars (NPs) and millisecond pulsars (MSPs), a majority (80%) of the GCCRs appears to fall within the high flux-density tail of the pulsar distribution, as extrapolated from a sample of NPs in the Galactic disk. However, MSPs extrapolated from the GD population are too weak to have contributed significantly to the GCCR population that have been detected. We also cross-correlated the GCCRs with X-ray sources in Chandra X-ray catalogs and found that 42 GCCRs have candidate X-ray counterparts. Most of the GCCRs having X-ray counterparts are likely to be associated with unresolved or slightly resolved radio jets launched from X-ray binaries with a compact object, either a black hole or a neutron star.
We have used the Goddard IRAM 2-Millimeter Observer (GISMO) with the 30 m IRAM telescope to carry out a 2 mm survey of the Galaxys central molecular zone (CMZ). These observations detect thermal emission from cold ISM dust, thermal free-free emission from ionized gas, and nonthermal synchrotron emission from relatively flat-spectrum sources. Archival data sets spanning $3.6 mu$m to 90 cm are used to distinguish different emission mechanisms. After the thermal emission of dust is modeled and subtracted, the remaining 2 mm emission is dominated by free-free emission, with the exception of the brightest nonthermal filament (NTF) that runs though the middle of the bundle of filaments known as the Radio Arc. This is the shortest wavelength at which any NTF has been detected. The GISMO observations clearly trace this NTF over a length of ~0.2$^circ$, with a mean 2 mm spectral index which is steeper than at longer wavelengths. The 2 mm to 6 cm (or 20 cm) spectral index steepens from $alpha approx -0.2$ to $-0.7$ as a function distance from the Sickle H II region, suggesting that this region is directly related to the NTF. A number of unresolved (at $21$) 2 mm sources are found nearby. One appears to be thermal dust emission from a molecular cloud that is associated with an enigmatic radio point source whose connection to the Radio Arc is still debated. The morphology and colors at shorter IR wavelengths indicate other 2 mm unresolved sources are likely to be compact H II regions.
We present a deep centimeter-wavelength catalog of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), based on a 30h single-pointing observation with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in its high-resolution A-configuration using two 1 GHz bands centered at 4.7 GHz and 7.3 GHz. A total of 556 compact sources were detected in a map with a nominal rms noise of 3 muJy/bm, limited by complex source structure and the primary beam response. Compared to previous catalogs, our detections increase the sample of known compact radio sources in the ONC by more than a factor of seven. The new data show complex emission on a wide range of spatial scales. Following a preliminary correction for the wideband primary-beam response, we determine radio spectral indices for 170 sources whose index uncertainties are less than +/-0.5. We compare the radio to the X-ray and near-infrared point-source populations, noting similarities and differences.
Context. The two nuclei of the starburst galaxy Arp220 contain multiple compact radio sources previously identified as radio supernovae or supernova remnants. Aims. In order to search for an embedded radio AGN, or other possible exotic objects, we have carried out a program of VLBI monitoring at 6 cm over three epochs each separated by four months. Methods. Combining the new data with existing data at 6 cm and 18 cm (spanning 4 and 12 years respectively) we are able to characterise source flux density variability on a range of time-scales. Additionally we analyse the variability of sources in shape and position. Results. We detect rapid (< 4 months) variability in three sources (W7, W26 and W29). These sources show possible superluminal motion (> 4c) of jet-like features near rapidly varying almost stationary components. These enigmatic sources might be associated with an AGN or a highly beamed microquasar (i.e. microblazar). Other hypotheses include that the apparent variability is intrinsic and is produced by neutron star powered central components within a supernova remnant, by a sequence of several supernovae within super star clusters, or is extrinsic and is produced by Galactic interstellar scintillation of very compact non-varying objects. Conclusions. A microquasar/microblazar origin seems to be the best explanation for the nature of the variable sources in Arp220.