The brightness and spatial distributions of terrestrial radio sources

ArXiv 1307.558 (2013)

Authors:

AR Offringa, AG de Bruyn, S Zaroubi, LVE Koopmans, SJ Wijnholds, FB Abdalla, WN Brouw, B Ciardi, IT Iliev, GJA Harker, G Mellema, G Bernardi, P Zarka, A Ghosh, A Alexov, J Anderson, A Asgekar, IM Avruch, R Beck, ME Bell, MR Bell, MJ Bentum, P Best, L Bîrzan, F Breitling, J Broderick, M Brüggen, HR Butcher, F de Gasperin, E de Geus, M de Vos, S Duscha, J Eislöffel, RA Fallows, C Ferrari, W Frieswijk, MA Garrett, J Grießmeier, TE Hassall, A Horneffer, M Iacobelli, E Juette, A Karastergiou, W Klijn, VI Kondratiev, M Kuniyoshi, G Kuper, J van Leeuwen, M Loose, P Maat, G Macario, G Mann, JP McKean, H Meulman, MJ Norden, E Orru, H Paas, M Pandey-Pommier, R Pizzo, AG Polatidis, D Rafferty, W Reich, R van Nieuwpoort, H Röttgering, AMM Scaife, J Sluman, O Smirnov, C Sobey, M Tagger, Y Tang, C Tasse, S ter Veen, C Toribio, R Vermeulen, C Vocks, RJ van Weeren, MW Wise, O Wucknitz

Abstract:

Faint undetected sources of radio-frequency interference (RFI) might become visible in long radio observations when they are consistently present over time. Thereby, they might obstruct the detection of the weak astronomical signals of interest. This issue is especially important for Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) projects that try to detect the faint redshifted HI signals from the time of the earliest structures in the Universe. We explore the RFI situation at 30-163 MHz by studying brightness histograms of visibility data observed with LOFAR, similar to radio-source-count analyses that are used in cosmology. An empirical RFI distribution model is derived that allows the simulation of RFI in radio observations. The brightness histograms show an RFI distribution that follows a power-law distribution with an estimated exponent around -1.5. With several assumptions, this can be explained with a uniform distribution of terrestrial radio sources whose radiation follows existing propagation models. Extrapolation of the power law implies that the current LOFAR EoR observations should be severely RFI limited if the strength of RFI sources remains strong after time integration. This is in contrast with actual observations, which almost reach the thermal noise and are thought not to be limited by RFI. Therefore, we conclude that it is unlikely that there are undetected RFI sources that will become visible in long observations. Consequently, there is no indication that RFI will prevent an EoR detection with LOFAR.

Evolution of star formation in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey field – I. Luminosity functions and cosmic star formation rate out to z = 1.6

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 433:1 (2013) 796-811

Authors:

Alyssa B Drake, Chris Simpson, Chris A Collins, Phil A James, Ivan K Baldry, Masami Ouchi, Matt J Jarvis, David G Bonfield, Yoshiaki Ono, Philip N Best, Gavin B Dalton, James S Dunlop, Ross J McLure, Daniel JB Smith

A 325-MHz GMRT survey of the Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA fields

ArXiv 1307.459 (2013)

Authors:

T Mauch, H-R Klöckner, S Rawlings, MJ Jarvis, MJ Hardcastle, D Obreschkow, DJ Saikia, MA Thompson

Abstract:

We describe a 325-MHz survey, undertaken with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), which covers a large part of the three equatorial fields at 9, 12 and 14.5 h of right ascension from the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) in the area also covered by the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey (GAMA). The full dataset, after some observed pointings were removed during the data reduction process, comprises 212 GMRT pointings covering ~90 deg^2 of sky. We have imaged and catalogued the data using a pipeline that automates the process of flagging, calibration, self-calibration and source detection for each of the survey pointings. The resulting images have resolutions of between 14 and 24 arcsec and minimum rms noise (away from bright sources) of ~1 mJy/beam, and the catalogue contains 5263 sources brighter than 5 sigma. We investigate the spectral indices of GMRT sources which are also detected at 1.4 GHz and find them to agree broadly with previously published results; there is no evidence for any flattening of the radio spectral index below S_1.4=10 mJy. This work adds to the large amount of available optical and infrared data in the H-ATLAS equatorial fields and will facilitate further study of the low-frequency radio properties of star formation and AGN activity in galaxies out to z~1.

NEARBY PLANETARY SYSTEMS AS LENSES DURING PREDICTED CLOSE PASSAGES TO BACKGROUND STARS

The Astrophysical Journal American Astronomical Society 771:2 (2013) 79

Authors:

Rosanne Di Stefano, James Matthews, Sébastien Lépine

CTA contributions to the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2013)

ArXiv 1307.2232 (2013)

Authors:

The CTA Consortium, O Abril, BS Acharya, M Actis, G Agnetta, JA Aguilar, F Aharonian, M Ajello, A Akhperjanian, M Alcubierre, J Aleksic, R Alfaro, E Aliu, AJ Allafort, D Allan, I Allekotte, R Aloisio, E Amato, G Ambrosi, M Ambrosio, J Anderson, EO Angüner, LA Antonelli, V Antonuccio, M Antonucci, P Antoranz, A Aravantinos, A Argan, T Arlen, C Aramo, T Armstrong, H Arnaldi, L Arrabito, K Asano, T Ashton, HG Asorey, T Aune, Y Awane, H Baba, A Babic, N Baby, J Bähr, A Bais, C Baixeras, S Bajtlik, M Balbo, D Balis, C Balkowski, J Ballet, A Bamba, R Bandiera, A Barber, C Barbier, M Barceló, A Barnacka, J Barnstedt, U Barres de Almeida, JA Barrio, A Basili, S Basso, D Bastieri, C Bauer, A Baushev, U Becciani, J Becerra, J Becerra, Y Becherini, KC Bechtol, J Becker Tjus, V Beckmann, W Bednarek, B Behera, M Belluso, W Benbow, J Berdugo, D Berge, K Berger, F Bernard, T Bernardino, K Bernlöhr, B Bertucci, N Bhat, S Bhattacharyya, B Biasuzzi, C Bigongiari, A Biland, S Billotta, T Bird, E Birsin, E Bissaldi, J Biteau, M Bitossi, S Blake, O Blanch Bigas, P Blasi, A Bobkov, V Boccone, M Böttcher, L Bogacz, J Bogart, M Bogdan, C Boisson, J Boix Gargallo, J Bolmont, G Bonanno, A Bonardi, T Bonev, P Bonifacio, G Bonnoli, P Bordas, A Borgland, J Borkowski, R Bose, O Botner, A Bottani, L Bouchet, M Bourgeat, C Boutonnet, A Bouvier, S Brau-Nogué, I Braun, T Bretz, M Briggs, M Brigida, T Bringmann, R Britto, P Brook, P Brun, L Brunetti, P Bruno, N Bucciantini, T Buanes, J Buckley, R Bühler, V Bugaev, A Bulgarelli, T Bulik, G Busetto, S Buson, K Byrum, M Cailles, R Cameron, J Camprecios, R Canestrari, S Cantu, M Capalbi, P Caraveo, E Carmona, A Carosi, R Carosi, J Carr, J Carter, P-H Carton, R Caruso, S Casanova, E Cascone, M Casiraghi, A Castellina, O Catalano, S Cavazzani, S Cazaux, P Cerchiara, M Cerruti, E Chabanne, P Chadwick, C Champion, R Chaves, P Cheimets, A Chen, J Chiang, L Chiappetti, M Chikawa, VR Chitnis, F Chollet, A Christof, J Chudoba, M Cieślar, A Cillis, M Cilmo, A Codino, J Cohen-Tanugi, S Colafrancesco, P Colin, J Colome, S Colonges, M Compin, P Conconi, V Conforti, V Connaughton, J Conrad, JL Contreras, P Coppi, J Coridian, P Corona, D Corti, J Cortina, L Cossio, A Costa, H Costantini, G Cotter, B Courty, S Couturier, S Covino, G Crimi, SJ Criswell, J Croston, G Cusumano, M Dafonseca, O Dale, M Daniel, J Darling, I Davids, F Dazzi, A de Angelis, V De Caprio, F De Frondat, EM de Gouveia Dal Pino, I de la Calle, GA De La Vega, R de los Reyes Lopez, B de Lotto, A De Luca, M de Naurois, Y de Oliveira, E de Oña Wilhelmi, F de Palma, V de Souza, G Decerprit, G Decock, C Deil, E Delagnes, G Deleglise, C Delgado, D della Volpe, P Demange, G Depaola, A Dettlaff, T Di Girolamo, C Di Giulio, A Di Paola, F Di Pierro, G di Sciascio, C Díaz, J Dick, R Dickherber, H Dickinson, V Diez-Blanco, S Digel, D Dimitrov, G Disset, A Djannati-Ataï, M Doert, M Dohmke, W Domainko, D Dominis Prester, A Donat, D Dorner, M Doro, J-L Dournaux, G Drake, D Dravins, L Drury, F Dubois, R Dubois, G Dubus, C Dufour, D Dumas, J Dumm, D Durand, V Dwarkadas, J Dyks, M Dyrda, J Ebr, E Edy, K Egberts, P Eger, S Einecke, C Eleftheriadis, S Elles, D Emmanoulopoulos, D Engelhaupt, R Enomoto, J-P Ernenwein, M Errando, A Etchegoyen, PA Evans, A Falcone, A Faltenbacher, D Fantinel, K Farakos, C Farnier, E Farrell, G Fasola, BW Favill, E Fede, S Federici, S Fegan, F Feinstein, D Ferenc, P Ferrando, M Fesquet, P Fetfatzis, A Fiasson, E Fillin-Martino, D Fink, C Finley, JP Finley, M Fiorini, R Firpo Curcoll, E Flandrini, H Fleischhack, H Flores, D Florin, W Focke, C Föhr, E Fokitis, L Font, G Fontaine, M Fornasa, A Förster, L Fortson, N Fouque, A Franckowiak, FJ Franco, A Frankowski, C Fransson, GW Fraser, R Frei, L Fresnillo, C Fruck, D Fugazza, Y Fujita, Y Fukazawa, Y Fukui, S Funk, W Gäbele, S Gabici, R Gabriele, A Gadola, N Galante, D Gall, Y Gallant, J Gámez-García, M Garczarczyk, B García, R Garcia López, D Gardiol, F Gargano, D Garrido, L Garrido, D Gascon, M Gaug, J Gaweda, L Gebremedhin, N Geffroy, L Gerard, A Ghedina, M Ghigo, P Ghislain, E Giannakaki, F Gianotti, S Giarrusso, G Giavitto, B Giebels, N Giglietto, V Gika, M Giomi, P Giommi, F Giordano, N Girard, E Giro, A Giuliani, T Glanzman, J-F Glicenstein, N Godinovic, V Golev, M Gomez Berisso, J Gómez-Ortega, MM Gonzalez, A González, F González, A González Muñoz, KS Gothe, T Grabarczyk, M Gougerot, R Graciani, P Grandi, F Grañena, J Granot, G Grasseau, R Gredig, A Green, T Greenshaw, T Grégoire, A Grillo, O Grimm, M-H Grondin, J Grube, M Grudzinska, V Gruev, S Grünewald, J Grygorczuk, V Guarino, S Gunji, G Gyuk, D Hadasch, A Hagedorn, R Hagiwara, J Hahn, N Hakansson, A Hallgren, N Hamer Heras, S Hara, MJ Hardcastle, D Harezlak, J Harris, T Hassan, K Hatanaka, T Haubold, A Haupt, T Hayakawa, M Hayashida, R Heller, F Henault, G Henri, G Hermann, R Hermel, A Herrero, O Hervet, N Hidaka, JA Hinton, K Hirotani, D Hoffmann, W Hofmann, P Hofverberg, J Holder, JR Hörandel, D Horns, D Horville, J Houles, M Hrabovsky, D Hrupec, H Huan, B Huber, J-M Huet, G Hughes, TB Humensky, J Huovelin, J-F Huppert, A Ibarra, D Ikawa, JM Illa, D Impiombato, S Incorvaia, S Inoue, Y Inoue, F Iocco, K Ioka, GL Israel, C Jablonski, A Jacholkowska, J Jacquemier, M Jamrozy, M Janiak, P Jean, C Jeanney, JJ Jimenez, T Jogler, C Johnson, T Johnson, L Journet, C Juffroy, I Jung, P Kaaret, S Kabuki, M Kagaya, J Kakuwa, C Kalkuhl, R Kankanyan, A Karastergiou, K Kärcher, M Karczewski, S Karkar, J Kasperek, D Kastana, H Katagiri, J Kataoka, K Katarzyński, U Katz, N Kawanaka, D Kazanas, N Kelley-Hoskins, B Kellner-Leidel, H Kelly, E Kendziorra, B Khélifi, DB Kieda, T Kifune, T Kihm, T Kishimoto, K Kitamoto, W Kluźniak, C Knapic, J Knapp, J Knödlseder, F Köck, J Kocot, K Kodani, J-H Köhne, K Kohri, K Kokkotas, D Kolitzus, N Komin, I Kominis, Y Konno, H Köppel, P Korohoda, K Kosack, G Koss, R Kossakowski, R Koul, G Kowal, S Koyama, J Kozioł, T Krähenbühl, J Krause, H Krawzcynski, F Krennrich, A Krepps, A Kretzschmann, R Krobot, P Krueger, H Kubo, VA Kudryavtsev, J Kushida, A Kuznetsov, A La Barbera, N La Palombara, V La Parola, G La Rosa, K Lacombe, G Lamanna, J Lande, D Languignon, JS Lapington, P Laporte, B Laurent, C Lavalley, T Le Flour, A Le Padellec, S-H Lee, WH Lee, J-P Lefèvre, H Leich, MA Leigui de Oliveira, D Lelas, J-P Lenain, R Leoni, DJ Leopold, T Lerch, L Lessio, G Leto, B Lieunard, S Lieunard, R Lindemann, E Lindfors, A Liolios, A Lipniacka, H Lockart, T Lohse, S Lombardi, F Longo, A Lopatin, M Lopez, R López-Coto, A López-Oramas, A Lorca, E Lorenz, F Louis, P Lubinski, F Lucarelli, H Lüdecke, J Ludwin, PL Luque-Escamilla, W Lustermann, O Luz, E Lyard, MC Maccarone, TJ Maccarone, GM Madejski, A Madhavan, M Mahabir, G Maier, P Majumdar, G Malaguti, G Malaspina, S Maltezos, A Manalaysay, A Mancilla, D Mandat, G Maneva, A Mangano, P Manigot, K Mannheim, I Manthos, N Maragos, A Marcowith, M Mariotti, M Marisaldi, S Markoff, A Marszałek, C Martens, J Martí, J-M Martin, P Martin, G Martínez, F Martínez, M Martínez, F Massaro, A Masserot, A Mastichiadis, A Mathieu, H Matsumoto, F Mattana, S Mattiazzo, A Maurer, G Maurin, S Maxfield, J Maya, D Mazin, L Mc Comb, A McCann, N McCubbin, I McHardy, R McKay, K Meagher, C Medina, C Melioli, D Melkumyan, D Melo, S Mereghetti, P Mertsch, M Meucci, M Meyer, J Michałowski, P Micolon, A Mihailidis, T Mineo, M Minuti, N Mirabal, F Mirabel, JM Miranda, R Mirzoyan, A Mistò, T Mizuno, B Moal, R Moderski, I Mognet, E Molinari, M Molinaro, T Montaruli, C Monte, I Monteiro, P Moore, A Moralejo Olaizola, M Mordalska, C Morello, K Mori, G Morlino, A Morselli, F Mottez, Y Moudden, E Moulin, I Mrusek, R Mukherjee, P Munar-Adrover, H Muraishi, K Murase, A StJ Murphy, S Nagataki, T Naito, D Nakajima, T Nakamori, K Nakayama, C Naumann, D Naumann, M Naumann-Godo, P Nayman, D Nedbal, D Neise, L Nellen, A Neronov, V Neustroev, N Neyroud, L Nicastro, J Nicolau-Kukliński, A Niedźwiecki, J Niemiec, D Nieto, A Nikolaidis, K Nishijima, K-I Nishikawa, K Noda, S Nolan, R Northrop, D Nosek, N Nowak, A Nozato, L Oakes, PT O'Brien, Y Ohira, M Ohishi, S Ohm, H Ohoka, T Okuda, A Okumura, J-F Olive, RA Ong, R Orito, M Orr, JP Osborne, M Ostrowski, LA Otero, N Otte, E Ovcharov, I Oya, A Ozieblo, L Padilla, I Pagano, S Paiano, D Paillot, A Paizis, S Palanque, M Palatka, J Pallota, M Palatiello, K Panagiotidis, J-L Panazol, D Paneque, M Panter, MR Panzera, R Paoletti, A Papayannis, G Papyan, JM Paredes, G Pareschi, J-M Parraud, D Parsons, G Pauletta, M Paz Arribas, M Pech, G Pedaletti, V Pelassa, D Pelat, MDC Perez, M Persic, P-O Petrucci, B Peyaud, A Pichel, D Pieloth, E Pierre, S Pita, G Pivato, F Pizzolato, M Platino, Ł Platos, R Platzer, S Podkladkin, L Pogosyan, M Pohl, G Pojmanski, JD Ponz, W Potter, J Poutanen, E Prandini, J Prast, R Preece, F Profeti, H Prokoph, M Prouza, M Proyetti, I Puerto-Giménez, G Pühlhofer, I Puljak, M Punch, R Pyzioł, EJ Quel, J Quesada, J Quinn, A Quirrenbach, E Racero, S Rainò, PJ Rajda, M Rameez, P Ramon, R Rando, RC Rannot, M Rataj, M Raue, D Ravignani, P Reardon, O Reimann, A Reimer, O Reimer, K Reitberger, M Renaud, S Renner, B Reville, W Rhode, M Ribó, M Ribordy, G Richards, MG Richer, J Rico, J Ridky, F Rieger, P Ringegni, J Ripken, PR Ristori, A Rivière, S Rivoire, L Rob, G Rodeghiero, U Roeser, R Rohlfs, G Rojas, P Romano, W Romaszkan, GE Romero, SR Rosen, S Rosier Lees, D Ross, G Rouaix, J Rousselle, S Rousselle, AC Rovero, F Roy, S Royer, B Rudak, C Rulten, M Rupiński, F Russo, F Ryde, O Saavedra, B Sacco, EO Saemann, A Saggion, V Sahakian, K Saito, T Saito, Y Saito, N Sakaki, R Sakonaka, A Salini, F Sanchez, M Sanchez-Conde, A Sandoval, H Sandaker, E Sant'Ambrogio, A Santangelo, EM Santos, A Sanuy, L Sapozhnikov, S Sarkar, N Sartore, H Sasaki, K Satalecka, M Sawada, V Scalzotto, V Scapin, M Scarcioffolo, J Schafer, T Schanz, S Schlenstedt, R Schlickeiser, T Schmidt, J Schmoll, P Schovanek, M Schroedter, A Schubert, C Schultz, J Schultze, A Schulz, K Schure, F Schussler, T Schwab, U Schwanke, J Schwarz, S Schwarzburg, T Schweizer, S Schwemmer, U Schwendicke, C Schwerdt, A Segreto, J-H Seiradakis, GH Sembroski, M Servillat, K Seweryn, M Sharma, M Shayduk, RC Shellard, J Shi, T Shibata, A Shibuya, S Shore, E Shum, E Sideras-Haddad, L Sidoli, M Sidz, J Sieiro, M Sikora, J Silk, A Sillanpää, BB Singh, G Sironi, J Sitarek, C Skole, R Smareglia, A Smith, D Smith, J Smith, N Smith, D Sobczyńska, H Sol, G Sottile, M Sowiński, F Spanier, D Spiga, S Spyrou, V Stamatescu, A Stamerra, RLC Starling, Ł Stawarz, R Steenkamp, C Stegmann, S Steiner, C Stella, N Stergioulas, R Sternberger, M Sterzel, F Stinzing, M Stodulski, Th Stolarczyk, U Straumann, E Strazzeri, L Stringhetti, A Suarez, M Suchenek, R Sugawara, K-H Sulanke, S Sun, AD Supanitsky, T Suric, P Sutcliffe, JM Sykes, M Szanecki, T Szepieniec, A Szostek, G Tagliaferri, H Tajima, H Takahashi, K Takahashi, L Takalo, H Takami, G Talbot, J Tammi, M Tanaka, S Tanaka, J Tasan, M Tavani, J-P Tavernet, LA Tejedor, I Telezhinsky, P Temnikov, C Tenzer, Y Terada, R Terrier, M Teshima, V Testa, D Tezier, J Thayer, D Thuermann, L Tibaldo, L Tibaldo, O Tibolla, A Tiengo, MC Timpanaro, M Tluczykont, CJ Todero Peixoto, F Tokanai, M Tokarz, K Toma, A Tonachini, K Torii, M Tornikoski, DF Torres, M Torres, S Toscano, G Toso, G Tosti, T Totani, F Toussenel, G Tovmassian, P Travnicek, A Treves, M Trifoglio, I Troyano, K Tsinganos, H Ueno, G Umana, K Umehara, SS Upadhya, T Usher, M Uslenghi, F Vagnetti, JF Valdes-Galicia, P Vallania, G Vallejo, W van Driel, C van Eldik, J Vandenbrouke, J Vanderwalt, H Vankov, G Vasileiadis, V Vassiliev, D Veberic, I Vegas, S Vercellone, S Vergani, V Verzi, GP Vettolani, C Veyssière, JP Vialle, A Viana, M Videla, C Vigorito, P Vincent, S Vincent, J Vink, N Vlahakis, L Vlahos, P Vogler, V Voisin, A Vollhardt, H-P von Gunten, S Vorobiov, C Vuerli, V Waegebaert, R Wagner, RG Wagner, S Wagner, SP Wakely, R Walter, T Walther, K Warda, RS Warwick, P Wawer, R Wawrzaszek, N Webb, P Wegner, A Weinstein, Q Weitzel, R Welsing, M Werner, H Wetteskind, RJ White, A Wierzcholska, S Wiesand, A Wilhelm, MI Wilkinson, DA Williams, R Willingale, M Winde, K Winiarski, R Wischnewski, Ł Wiśniewski, P Wojcik, M Wood, A Wörnlein, Q Xiong, KK Yadav, H Yamamoto, T Yamamoto, R Yamazaki, S Yanagita, JM Yebras, D Yelos, A Yoshida, T Yoshida, T Yoshikoshi, P Yu, V Zabalza, M Zacharias, A Zajczyk, L Zampieri, R Zanin, A Zdziarski, A Zech, A Zhao, X Zhou, K Zietara, J Ziolkowski, P Ziółkowski, V Zitelli, C Zurbach, P Zychowski

Abstract:

Compilation of CTA contributions to the proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2013), which took place in 2-9 July, 2013, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil