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LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

SL Blyth, AJ Baker, BW Holwerda, BA Bassett, MA Bershady, A Bouchard, FH Briggs, B Catinella, L Chemin, SM Crawford, CM Cress, D Cunnama, JK Darling, R Davé, RP Deane, WJG de Blok, EC Elson, A Faltenbacher, S February, X Fernández, BS Frank, E Gawiser, PA Henning, KM Hess, I Heywood, JP Hughes, MJ Jarvis, SJ Kannappan, NS Katz, D Kereš, HR Klöckner, RC Kraan-Korteweg, P Lah, MD Lehnert, AK Leroy, M Lochner, N Maddox, S Makhathini, GR Meurer, MJ Meyer, K Moodley, R Morganti, D Obreschkow, SH Oh, TA Oosterloo, DJ Pisano, A Popping, G Popping, S Ravindranath, E Schinnerer, AC Schröder, K Sheth, R Skelton, OM Smirnov, M Smith, RS Somerville, R Srianand, L Staveley-Smith, IM Stewart, M Vaccari, P Väisänen, KJ van der Heyden, W van Driel, MAW Verheijen, F Walter, EM Wilcots, TB Williams, PA Woudt, JF Wu, MA Zwaan, JTL Zwart, S Rawlings

Abstract:

© Copyright owned by the author(s). The cosmic evolution of galaxies’ neutral atomic gas content is a major science driver for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), as well as for its South African (MeerKAT) and Australian (ASKAP) precursors. Among the H I large survey programs (LSPs) planned for ASKAP and MeerKAT, the deepest and narrowest tier of the “wedding cake” will be defined by the combined L-band+UHF-band Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) survey, which will probe H I in emission within a single “cosmic vuvuzela” that extends to z = 1.4, when the universe was only a third of its present age. Through a combination of individual and stacked detections (the latter relying on extensive multi-wavelength studies of the survey’s target field), LADUMA will study the redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the cosmic H I density, the variation of the H I mass function with redshift and environment, and the connection between H I content and galaxies’ stellar properties (mass, age, etc.). The survey will also build a sample of OH megamaser detections that can be used to trace the cosmic merger history. This proceedings contribution provides a brief introduction to the survey, its scientific aims, and its technical implementation, deferring a more complete discussion for a future article after the implications of a recent review of MeerKAT LSP project plans are fully worked out.

LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

SL Blyth, AJ Baker, BW Holwerda, BA Bassett, MA Bershady, A Bouchard, FH Briggs, B Catinella, L Chemin, SM Crawford, CM Cress, D Cunnama, JK Darling, R Davé, RP Deane, WJG de Blok, EC Elson, A Faltenbacher, S February, X Fernández, BS Frank, E Gawiser, PA Henning, KM Hess, I Heywood, JP Hughes, MJ Jarvis, SJ Kannappan, NS Katz, D Kereš, HR Klöckner, RC Kraan-Korteweg, P Lah, MD Lehnert, AK Leroy, M Lochner, N Maddox, S Makhathini, GR Meurer, MJ Meyer, K Moodley, R Morganti, D Obreschkow, SH Oh, TA Oosterloo, DJ Pisano, A Popping, G Popping, S Ravindranath, E Schinnerer, AC Schröder, K Sheth, R Skelton, OM Smirnov, M Smith, RS Somerville, R Srianand, L Staveley-Smith, IM Stewart, M Vaccari, P Väisänen, KJ van der Heyden, W van Driel, MAW Verheijen, F Walter, EM Wilcots, TB Williams, PA Woudt, JF Wu, MA Zwaan, JTL Zwart, S Rawlings

Abstract:

The cosmic evolution of galaxies’ neutral atomic gas content is a major science driver for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), as well as for its South African (MeerKAT) and Australian (ASKAP) precursors. Among the H I large survey programs (LSPs) planned for ASKAP and MeerKAT, the deepest and narrowest tier of the “wedding cake” will be defined by the combined L-band+UHF-band Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) survey, which will probe H I in emission within a single “cosmic vuvuzela” that extends to z = 1.4, when the universe was only a third of its present age. Through a combination of individual and stacked detections (the latter relying on extensive multi-wavelength studies of the survey’s target field), LADUMA will study the redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the cosmic H I density, the variation of the H I mass function with redshift and environment, and the connection between H I content and galaxies’ stellar properties (mass, age, etc.). The survey will also build a sample of OH megamaser detections that can be used to trace the cosmic merger history. This proceedings contribution provides a brief introduction to the survey, its scientific aims, and its technical implementation, deferring a more complete discussion for a future article after the implications of a recent review of MeerKAT LSP project plans are fully worked out.

The MeerKAT International GHz tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) survey

Proceedings of Science Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

Matthew Jarvis, AR Taylor, I Agudo, RP Deane, B Frank, N Gupta, Ian Heywood, N Maddox, K McAlpine, AMM Scaife, M Vaccari, JTL Zwart, E Adams, DJ Bacon, AJ Baker, BA Bassett, PN Best, R Beswick, S Blyth, ML Brown, M Bruggen, M Cluver, S Colafranceso, Grant Cotter, C Cress, R Dave, C Ferrari, MJ Hardcastle, Catherine Hale, I Harrison, PW Hatfield, H-R Klockner, S Kolwa, E Malefahlo, T Marubini, T Mauch, K Moodley, R Morganti, R Norris, Josephine Peters, I Prandoni, M Prescott, S Oliver, N Oozeer, HJA Rottgering, N Seymour, C Simpson, O Smirnov

Abstract:

The MIGHTEE large survey project will survey four of the most well-studied extragalactic deep fields, totalling 20 square degrees to $\mu$Jy sensitivity at Giga-Hertz frequencies, as well as an ultra-deep image of a single ~1 square degree MeerKAT pointing. The observations will provide radio continuum, spectral line and polarisation information. As such, MIGHTEE, along with the excellent multi-wavelength data already available in these deep fields, will allow a range of science to be achieved. Specifically, MIGHTEE is designed to significantly enhance our understanding of, (i) the evolution of AGN and star-formation activity over cosmic time, as a function of stellar mass and environment, free of dust obscuration; (ii) the evolution of neutral hydrogen in the Universe and how this neutral gas eventually turns into stars after moving through the molecular phase, and how efficiently this can fuel AGN activity; (iii) the properties of cosmic magnetic fields and how they evolve in clusters, filaments and galaxies. MIGHTEE will reach similar depth to the planned SKA all-sky survey, and thus will provide a pilot to the cosmology experiments that will be carried out by the SKA over a much larger survey volume.
Details from ORA
Details from ArXiV

The MeerKAT international GHz tiered extragalactic exploration (MIGHTEE) survey

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

MJ Jarvis, AR Taylor, I Agudo, JR Allison, RP Deane, B Frank, N Gupta, I Heywood, N Maddox, K McAlpine, MG Santos, AMM Scaife, M Vaccari, JTL Zwart, E Adams, DJ Bacon, AJ Baker, BA Bassett, PN Best, R Beswick, S Blyth, ML Brown, M Brüggen, M Cluver, S Colafranceso, G Cotter, C Cress, R Davé, C Ferrari, MJ Hardcastle, C Hale, I Harrison, PW Hatfield, HR Klöckner, S Kolwa, E Malefahlo, T Marubini, T Mauch, K Moodley, R Morganti, R Norris, JA Peters, I Prandoni, M Prescott, S Oliver, N Oozeer, HJA Röttgering, N Seymour, C Simpson, O Smirnov, DJB Smith, K Spekkens, J Stil, C Tasse, K van der Heyden, IH Whittam, WL WIlliams

Abstract:

The MIGHTEE large survey project will survey four of the most well-studied extragalactic deep fields, totalling 20 square degrees to µJy sensitivity at Giga-Hertz frequencies, as well as an ultra-deep image of a single ∼1 deg2 MeerKAT pointing. The observations will provide radio continuum, spectral line and polarisation information. As such, MIGHTEE, along with the excellent multi-wavelength data already available in these deep fields, will allow a range of science to be achieved. Specifically, MIGHTEE is designed to significantly enhance our understanding of, (i) the evolution of AGN and star-formation activity over cosmic time, as a function of stellar mass and environment, free of dust obscuration; (ii) the evolution of neutral hydrogen in the Universe and how this neutral gas eventually turns into stars after moving through the molecular phase, and how efficiently this can fuel AGN activity; (iii) the properties of cosmic magnetic fields and how they evolve in clusters, filaments and galaxies. MIGHTEE will reach similar depth to the planned SKA all-sky survey, and thus will provide a pilot to the cosmology experiments that will be carried out by the SKA over a much larger survey volume.

ThunderKAT: The MeerKAT Large survey project for image-plane radio transients

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

R Fender, P Woudt, R Armstrong, P Groot, V McBride, J Miller-Jones, K Mooley, B Stappers, R Wijers, M Bietenholz, S Blyth, M Bottcher, D Buckley, P Charles, L Chomiuk, D Coppejans, S Corbel, M Coriat, F Daigne, E de Blok, H Falcke, J Girard, I Heywood, A Horesh, J Horrell, P Jonker, T Joseph, A Kamble, C Knigge, E Körding, M Kotze, C Kouveliotou, C Lynch, T Maccarone, P Meintjes, S Migliari, T Murphy, T Nagayama, G Nelemans, G Nicholson, T O’Brien, A Oodendaal, N Oozeer, J Osborne, M Perez-Torres, S Ratcliffe, V Ribeiro, E Rol, A Rushton, A Scaife, M Schurch, G Sivakoff, T Staley, D Steeghs, I Stewart, J Swinbank, K van der Heyden, A van der Horst, B van Soelen, S Vergani, B Warner, K Wiersema

Abstract:

ThunderKAT is the image-plane transients programme for MeerKAT. The goal as outlined in 2010, and still today, is to find, identify and understand high-energy astrophysical processes via their radio emission (often in concert with observations at other wavelengths). Through a comprehensive and complementary programme of surveying and monitoring Galactic synchrotron transients (across a range of compact accretors and a range of other explosive phenomena) and exploring distinct populations of extragalactic synchrotron transients (microquasars, supernovae and possibly yet unknown transient phenomena) - both from direct surveys and commensal observations - we will revolutionise our understanding of the dynamic and explosive transient radio sky. As well as performing targeted programmes of our own, we have made agreements with the other MeerKAT large survey projects (LSPs) that we will also search their data for transients. This commensal use of the other surveys, which remains one of our key programme goals in 2016, means that the combined MeerKAT LSPs will produce by far the largest GHz-frequency radio transient programme to date.