Radio `source’ Goals of telescope: maximize collection of energy (sensitivity or gain) isolate source emission from other sources… (directional gain… dynamic range) Collecting area

EVN: European VLBI Network (more and bigger dishes than VLBA) LBA: Long Baseline Array in AU

Nonthermal

Example 3: Array High redshift quasar with continuum flux density S = 1 mJy rms =  S = (fac)( T sys /K a )/(B t int ) 1/2 = ( 1.4 ) ( 30/0.6)/(B t int ) 1/2 t int = ( 70/0.0002) 2 /(128x10 6 ) ~ 16 min K a = T a / S = A eff /2k [K/Jy] = 0.7 K/Jy Parkes = 6 x 0.1 = 0.6 K/Jy ACTA (T a = S A eff /2k) ATCA (B=128 MHz) : 1 mJy = 5 rms means  S = 0.2 mJy rms =  S = (fac)( T sys /K a )/(B t int ) 1/2

D Sensivity depends on collecting area Angular resolution ~ /D ARRAYS:

Example 3: Array High redshift quasar with continuum flux density S = 1 mJy rms =  S = (fac)( T sys /K a )/(B t int ) 1/2 = ( 1.4 ) ( 30/0.6)/(B t int ) 1/2 t int = ( 70/0.0002) 2 /(128x10 6 ) ~ 16 min K a = T a / S = A eff /2k [K/Jy] = 0.7 K/Jy Parkes = 6 x 0.1 = 0.6 K/Jy ACTA (T a = S A eff /2k) ATCA (B=128 MHz) : 1 mJy = 5 rms means  S = 0.2 mJy rms =  S = (fac)( T sys /K a )/(B t int ) 1/2

D Sensivity depends on collecting area Angular resolution ~ /D

Maps from Arrays (or Aperture Synthesis Telescopes): intensities indicated in ‘units’ of `milli-Jansky per beam’ [why?] can compute noise level  Jy using radiometer equation can compute beam size from   /D so  ~  2 /4 sterad best to think of ‘mJy/beam’ as Intensity, I = 2k T B / 2 then, uncertainty is  T B ~  Jy /  IMPORTANT: lose surface brightness sensitivity when dilute the aperture by separating the array telescopes !!! Hurts ability to see diffuse emission.

Fourier Transform Zoom of FT Source Strength Angle Effect of observing complex source with a ‘beam’

Fourier Transform Zoom of FT view convolution of source with beam as filtering in the Spatial Frequency Domain Filter

The `microwave sky’ (all sky picture from WMAP map.gfsc.nasa.gov) Example of importance of Spatial Frequency Content

L = 1

L = 2

L = 10

L = 50 (spatial frequency)

L = 210

Interference Fringes and “Visibility” …. (Visibilities) The term “visibility” has its origin in optical interferometry, where fringes of unresolved sources has high “fringe visibility.” The term “visibilities” in radio astronomy generally refer to a set of measurements of the visibility function of a celestial source.

Simple cross correlation radio interferometer: on-axis source

Radio `source’ Interferometer Response Consider: ‘point source’ response … full amplitude, but fringe ambiguity ‘resolved source’ response … source fills + and – fringes => signal cancels and response -> 0. L M Angle, 

The fringe spacing and orientation corresponding to a single ‘u-v’ point:

U-V sampling comes from forming interferometers among all pairs of telescopes in the array: Locations on EarthInstantaneous UV CoverageEarth rotation

See: to access the Virtual Radio Interferometer simulator.

“Dipoles”