Recent Developments in Australia • Phil Edwards • Head of Science Operations • CSIRO ATNF
Overview • Recent visits • Introduction to the LBA • The LBA in 2008 • Recent developments • eVLBI progress • ASKAP • Looking ahead
March 2009
The Long Baseline Array (LBA) • Operated as a National Facility by ATNF, in close cooperation with University of Tasmania, (Swinburne Institute of Technology) & Curtin University of Technology • ATCA, Mopra, Parkes, Ceduna, Hobart • + Tidbinbilla (70m & 34m), Hartebeesthoek, TIGO, O’Higgins… • Traditionally 3 x ~1 week sessions per year, evolving toward more frequent, shorter sessions • Disk-based recorders • DiFX software correlator • (Deller et al. 2007, PASP, 119, 318) • Proposal deadlines June 15 and December 15
Radio Telescopes in Australia x Katherine x ASKAP x Yarragadee x New Norcia x
The LBA in 2008 • Five sessions • February, March, June, August, November • A total of 25 days • 31 observations • 6x22GHz, 12x8.4GHz, 4x6.7GHz,1x4.8GHz, 5x2.3GHz, 4x1.4GHz • 18 projects -- led by 17 different PIs! • 10 from Australia and 7 from overseas • Including 4 eVLBI (At[Ho]MpPa) observations • ~10% test and development time • Opportunities for EAVN tests
Examples of LBA programs 2008 • VLBI parallaxes of important southern hemisphere pulsars • Physics of Gamma-ray emitting AGN • Southern Hemisphere VLBI Calibrator List • The wind-collision region of HD 93129A • The core of J2310-4347 • VLBI of the PSR B1259-63 system • Proper Motion and Parallax of Methanol Masers • eVLBI observations of a low luminosity GPS sample from the AT20G survey
Recent LBA publications (1/2) • Implications of a VLBI Distance to the Double Pulsar J0737-3039A/B • (Deller et al. 2009 Science 323, 1327) • Precision Southern Hemisphere Pulsar VLBI Astrometry: Techniques and Results for • PSR J1559-4438 • (Deller et al. 2009 ApJ 690, 198) • Extremely High Precision VLBI Astrometry of PSR J0437-4715 and Implications for Theories of Gravity (Deller et al. 2008 ApJ 685, L67) • Fermi/LAT discovery of gamma-ray emission from the flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1454-354 • (Abdo et al. 2009 arXiv/0903.1713)
Recent LBA publications (2/2) • The Sub-Parsec Scale Radio Properties of Southern Starburst Galaxies. II. … the NGC 4945 Starburst(Lenc & Tingay 2009 AJ 137, 537) • The first VLBI image of an infrared-faint radio source (Middelberg et al 2008 A&A 491, 435) • The use of the Long Baseline Array in Australia for precise geodesy and absolute astrometry • (Petrov et al. arXiv/0809.0627) • First VLBI observations of methanol maser polarisation, in G339.88-1.26(Dodson 2008, A&A 480, 767) • The VSOP 5 GHz Active Galactic Nucleus Survey. V. Imaging Results for the Remaining 140 Sources (Dodson et al. 2008 ApJS 175, 314)
Recent developments • 2 x 1 Gbps links between ATNF telescopes • Addition of 7mm band (30-50 GHz) to ATCA (to enable tracking of NASA 32 GHz downlink) • Addition of 7mm receiver to Mopra (Jan 2008) • New 12mm receiver for Parkes (June 2008) • Establishment of DiFX software correlator at Curtin • CABB (Compact Array Broadband Backend) upgrade of ATCA to 2GHz bandwidths (from 128 MHz) now! • Addition of “tertiary” 20cm receiver for Ceduna (planned for 2009) • AuScope (talk by Simon Ellingsen)
ATCA CABB shutdown • Shutdown from beginning of March until mid April • New tied array box under construction • ATNF DAS limitation of 64 MHz input b/w
The LBA in 2009 • ATCA and Mopra involvement in “24 hours of eVLBI” for IYA Opening Ceremony in January • eVLBI demo to Curtin last week • VLBI test between Mopra & GMRT this week • 2009APR semester • Mopra involvement in IYA 100hrs of astronomy • 2 July to 6 July (8.4GHz and 22GHz) • 3 Sep to 7 Sep (6.7GHz + …) • AtMpPa eVLBI 6,8,10,13,15,17,20,22,24 July
eVLBI ATCA Mopra To Seattle 10 Gbps Parkes Sydney
eVLBI Current Status • 512 Mbps between At-Mp-Pa is usable for astronomy • 1024 Mbps between At-Mp-Pa to be announced in next call for proposals • 128 Mbps to Hobart not stable and not yet supported for astronomy… • Correlate on computer cluster at Parkes or Curtin or (soon) Narrabri • Successful demonstration with Shanghai and Kashima during eVLBI meeting in Shanghai last June • Participation in EXPRESS project
Image Credit: Paul Boven,
Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) • 36 x 12m dishes, with Phased Array Feeds • Located in WA • Frequency range: 0.7-1.8 GHz (‘SKA mid’) • Develop key technologies and infrastructure for SKA • Characterisation/Maintenance of Radio-Quiet Site • Begin astronomy 2011, complete 2013 • Total Commonwealth investment: A$100M • CSIRO: ATNF & ICTC • International partnerships with Canada, Netherlands, South Africa, US, India
Murchison Radio Observatory Site for ASKAP and MWA (80-300MHz)
Spectrum Measurements: 80MHz – 1.6GHz Sydney Pop. 4 million Narrabri Pop. 6,000 MRO Pop. 4
ASKAP at the Murchison Radio Observatory Antennas 36 x 12m diam. Max baseline 8 km Frequency 700–1800 MHz FOV 30 deg2 Bandwidth 300 MHz Channels 16k PAF 10x10x2 Tsys 35 K First antenna on-site 2009, Six element test array (BETA) in 2010
ASKAP Beamforming Correlator/ Station BF
ASKAP Science • Science with ASKAP: • The Australian Square-Kilometre-Array Pathfinder • (Johnston et al 2008 Exp. Astr. 22, 151) • Galaxy formation & gas evolution • z<0.2 HI survey (1 000 000 galaxies) • Evolution and cosmology • 60 000 000 continuum sources • Magnetic Structure of the Milky Way • 500 000 polarised sources • Evolution of ISM • Atomic, molecular & magnetic components • Pulsars (Timing of 1000 new pulsars) • Radio transient sky • VLBI follow-up with LBA
From ASKAP to SKA….
Looking ahead • Improving eVLBI capabilities of the LBA • 8th eVLBI Workshop 22-26 June in Madrid • Links to New Zealand, India and South America? • VLBI with ASKAP • Improved links with EAVN! • Disk-based recording and/or eVLBI
CSIRO/ATNF Philip Edwards CSIRO ATNF Head of Science Operations Email:Philip.Edwards@csiro.au Web: www.atnf.csiro.au Thank you Contact UsPhone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176Email: Enquiries@csiro.au Web: www.csiro.au
