We have developed a semi-empirical simulation of the extragalactic radio continuum sky suitable for aiding the design of next generation radio interferometers such as the Square Kilometre Array ...(SKA). The emphasis is on modelling the large-scale cosmological distribution of radio sources rather than the internal structure of individual galaxies. Here we provide a description of the simulation to accompany the online release of a catalogue of ≃320 million simulated radio sources. The simulation covers a sky area of 20 × 20 deg2- a plausible upper limit to the instantaneous field of view attainable with future (e.g. SKA) aperture array technologies - out to a cosmological redshift of z= 20, and down to flux density limits of 10 nJy at 151, 610 MHz, 1.4, 4.86 and 18 GHz. Five distinct source types are included: radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGN), radio-loud AGN of the Fanaroff-Riley type I (FR I) and FR II structural classes, and star-forming galaxies, the latter split into populations of quiescent and starbursting galaxies.
In our semi-empirical approach, the simulated sources are drawn from observed (or extrapolated) luminosity functions and grafted on to an underlying dark matter density field with biases which reflect their measured large-scale clustering. A numerical Press-Schechter style filtering of the density field is used to identify and populate clusters of galaxies. For economy of output, radio source structures are constructed from point source and elliptical subcomponents, and for FR I and FR II sources an orientation-based unification and beaming model is used to partition flux between the core and extended lobes and hotspots. The extensive simulation output gives users the flexibility to post-process the catalogues to achieve more complete agreement with observational data in the years ahead. The ultimate aim is for the 'idealized skies' generated by this simulation and associated post-processing to be fed to telescope simulators to optimize the design of the SKA itself.
Galaxies are believed to evolve through merging, which should lead to some hosting multiple supermassive black holes. There are four known triple black hole systems, with the closest black hole pair ...being 2.4 kiloparsecs apart (the third component in this system is at 3 kiloparsecs), which is far from the gravitational sphere of influence (about 100 parsecs for a black hole with mass one billion times that of the Sun). Previous searches for compact black hole systems concluded that they were rare, with the tightest binary system having a separation of 7 parsecs (ref. 10). Here we report observations of a triple black hole system at redshift z = 0.39, with the closest pair separated by about 140 parsecs and significantly more distant from Earth than any other known binary of comparable orbital separation. The effect of the tight pair is to introduce a rotationally symmetric helical modulation on the structure of the large-scale radio jets, which provides a useful way to search for other tight pairs without needing extremely high resolution observations. As we found this tight pair after searching only six galaxies, we conclude that tight pairs are more common than hitherto believed, which is an important observational constraint for low-frequency gravitational wave experiments.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The cosmic radio dipole is an anisotropy in the number counts of radio sources and is analogous to the dipole seen in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Measurements of source counts of large ...radio surveys have shown that, although the radio dipole is generally consistent in direction with the CMB dipole, the amplitudes are in tension. These observations present an intriguing puzzle, namely the cause of this discrepancy, with a true anisotropy breaking with the assumptions of the cosmological principle, invalidating the most common cosmological models that are built on these assumptions. We present a novel set of Bayesian estimators to determine the cosmic radio dipole and compare the results with those of commonly used methods applied to the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) radio surveys. In addition, we adapt the Bayesian estimators to take into account systematic effects known to influence large radio surveys of this kind, folding information such as the local noise floor or array configuration directly into the parameter estimation. The enhancement of these estimators allows us to greatly increase the number of sources used in the parameter estimation, yielding tighter constraints on the cosmic radio dipole estimation than previously achieved with NVSS and RACS. We extend the estimators further to work on multiple catalogues simultaneously, leading to a combined parameter estimation using both NVSS and RACS. The result is a dipole estimate that perfectly aligns with the CMB dipole in terms of direction but with an amplitude that is three times as large, and a significance of 4.8
σ
. This new dipole measurement is made to an unprecedented level of precision for radio sources, which is only matched by recent results using infrared quasars.
We present results from the first 12 months of operation of Radio Galaxy Zoo, which upon completion will enable visual inspection of over 170 000 radio sources to determine the host galaxy of the ...radio emission and the radio morphology. Radio Galaxy Zoo uses 1.4 GHz radio images from both the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST) and the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) in combination with mid-infrared images at 3.4 μm from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and at 3.6 μm from the Spitzer Space Telescope. We present the early analysis of the WISE mid-infrared colours of the host galaxies. For images in which there is >75 per cent consensus among the Radio Galaxy Zoo cross-identifications, the project participants are as effective as the science experts at identifying the host galaxies. The majority of the identified host galaxies reside in the mid-infrared colour space dominated by elliptical galaxies, quasi-stellar objects and luminous infrared radio galaxies. We also find a distinct population of Radio Galaxy Zoo host galaxies residing in a redder mid-infrared colour space consisting of star-forming galaxies and/or dust-enhanced non-star-forming galaxies consistent with a scenario of merger-driven active galactic nuclei (AGN) formation. The completion of the full Radio Galaxy Zoo project will measure the relative populations of these hosts as a function of radio morphology and power while providing an avenue for the identification of rare and extreme radio structures. Currently, we are investigating candidates for radio galaxies with extreme morphologies, such as giant radio galaxies, late-type host galaxies with extended radio emission and hybrid morphology radio sources.
Abstract
We present results of an optical spectroscopic survey using SALT and the Nordic Optical Telescope to build a Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-infrared color-based, dust-unbiased ...sample of powerful radio-bright (>200 mJy at 1.4 GHz) active galactic nuclei (AGN) for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS). Our sample has 250 AGN (median
z
= 1.8) showing emission lines, 26 with no emission lines, and 27 without optical counterparts. Overall, our sample is fainter (Δ
i
= 0.6 mag) and redder (Δ(
g
−
i
) = 0.2 mag) than radio-selected quasars, and representative of fainter quasar population detected in optical surveys. About 20% of the sources are narrow-line AGN (NLAGN)–65% of these, at
z
< 0.5 are galaxies without strong nuclear emission, and 10% at
z
> 1.9, have emission line ratios similar to radio galaxies. The farthest NLAGN in our sample is M1513-2524 (
z
em
= 3.132), and the largest radio source (size ∼330 kpc) is M0909-3133 (
z
em
= 0.884). We discuss in detail 110 AGN at 1.9 <
z
< 3.5. Despite representing the radio loudest quasars (median
R
= 3685), their Eddington ratios are similar to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars having lower
R
. We detect four C
iv
broad-absorption line (BAL) QSOs, all among AGN with least
R
, and highest black hole masses and Eddington ratios. The BAL detection rate (
4
−
2
+
3
%) is consistent with that seen in extremely powerful (
L
1.4GHz
> 10
25
W Hz
−1
) quasars. Using optical light curves, radio polarization, and
γ
-ray detections, we identify seven high-probability BL Lacertae objects. We also summarize the full MALS footprint to search for H
i
21 cm and OH 18 cm lines at
z
< 2.
We present the VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project based on 384 h of observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at 3 GHz (10 cm) toward the two square degree Cosmic Evolution Survey ...(COSMOS) field. The final mosaic reaches a median rms of 2.3 μJy beam-1 over the two square degrees at an angular resolution of 0.75″. To fully account for the spectral shape and resolution variations across the broad (2 GHz) band, we image all data with a multiscale, multifrequency synthesis algorithm. We present a catalog of 10 830 radio sources down to 5σ, out of which 67 are combined from multiple components.Comparing the positions of our 3 GHz sources with those from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)-COSMOS survey, we estimate that the astrometry is accurate to 0.01″ at the bright end (signal-to-noise ratio, S/N3 GHz > 20). Survival analysis on our data combined with the VLA-COSMOS 1.4 GHz Joint Project catalog yields an expected median radio spectral index of α = −0.7. We compute completeness corrections via Monte Carlo simulations to derive the corrected 3 GHz source counts. Our counts are in agreement with previously derived 3 GHz counts based on single-pointing (0.087 square degrees) VLA data. In summary, the VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project simultaneously provides the largest and deepest radio continuum survey at high (0.75″) angular resolution to date, bridging the gap between last-generation and next-generation surveys.
We predict the emission line luminosity functions (LFs) of the first 10 rotational transitions of 12C16O in galaxies at redshift z = 0 to z = 10. This prediction relies on a recently presented ...simulation of the molecular cold gas content in ~3 X 107 evolving galaxies based on the Millennium Simulation. We combine this simulation with a model for the conversion between molecular mass and CO-line intensities, which incorporates the following mechanisms: (1) molecular gas is heated by the cosmic microwave background (CMB), starbursts (SBs), and active galactic nuclei (AGNs); (2) molecular clouds in dense or inclined galaxies can overlap; (3) compact gas can attain a smooth distribution in the densest part of disks; (4) CO luminosities scale with metallicity changes between galaxies; and (5) CO luminosities are always detected against the CMB. We analyze the relative importance of these effects and predict the cosmic evolution of the CO-LFs. The most notable conclusion is that the detection of regular galaxies (i.e., no AGN, no massive SB) at high z 7 in CO emission will be dramatically hindered by the weak contrast against the CMB, in contradiction to earlier claims that CMB heating will ease the detection of high-redshift CO. The full simulation of extragalactic CO lines and the predicted CO-LFs at any redshift can be accessed online (http://s-cubed.physics.ox.ac.uk/, go to 'S3-SAX') and they should be useful for the modeling of CO-line surveys with future telescopes, such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/millimeter Array or the Square Kilometre Array.
We present a sky simulation of the atomic H I-emission line and the first 10 12C16O rotational emission lines of molecular gas in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. The simulated sky field has a comoving ...diameter of 500 h -1 Mpc; hence, the actual field of view depends on the (user-defined) maximal redshift z max; e.g., for z max = 10, the field of view yields ~4 X 4 deg2. For all galaxies, we estimate the line fluxes, line profiles, and angular sizes of the H I and CO-emission lines. The galaxy sample is complete for galaxies with cold hydrogen masses above 108 M. This sky simulation builds on a semi-analytic model of the cosmic evolution of galaxies in a Lambda cold dark matter (LambdaCDM) cosmology. The evolving CDM distribution was adopted from the Millennium Simulation, an N-body CDM simulation in a cubic box with a side length of 500 h -1 Mpc. This side length limits the coherence scale of our sky simulation: it is long enough to allow the extraction of the baryon acoustic oscillations in the galaxy power spectrum, yet the position and amplitude of the first acoustic peak will be imperfectly defined. This sky simulation is a tangible aid to the design and operation of future telescopes, such as the Square Kilometre Array, Large Millimeter Telescope, and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. The results presented in this paper have been restricted to a graphical representation of the simulated sky and fundamental dN/dz analyses for peak flux density limited and total flux limited surveys of H I and CO. A key prediction is that H I will be harder to detect at redshifts z 2 than predicted by a no-evolution model. The future verification or falsification of this prediction will allow us to qualify the semi-analytic models.
The number counts of homogeneous samples of radio sources are a tried and true method of probing the large-scale structure of the Universe, as most radio sources outside the Galactic plane are at ...cosmological distances. As such, they are expected to trace the cosmic radio dipole, an anisotropy analogous to the dipole seen in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Results have shown that although the cosmic radio dipole matches the direction of the CMB dipole, it has a significantly larger amplitude. This unexplained result challenges our assumption of the Universe being isotropic, which can have large repercussions for the current cosmological paradigm. Though significant measurements have been made, sensitivity to the radio dipole is generally hampered by systematic effects that can cause large biases in the measurement. Here we assess these systematics with data from the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS), a blind search for absorption lines with pointings centred on bright radio sources. With the sensitivity and field of view of MeerKAT, thousands of sources are observed in each pointing, allowing for the possibility of measuring the cosmic radio dipole given enough pointings. We present the analysis of ten MALS pointings, focusing on systematic effects that could lead to an inhomogeneous catalogue. We describe the calibration and creation of full band continuum images and catalogues, producing a combined catalogue containing 16 307 sources and covering 37.5 square degrees of sky down to a sensitivity of 10 μJy beam
−1
. We measure the completeness, purity, and flux recovery statistics for these catalogues using simulated data. We investigate different source populations in the catalogues by looking at flux densities and spectral indices and how they might influence source counts. Using the noise characteristics of the pointings, we find global measures that can be used to correct for the incompleteness of the catalogue, producing corrected number counts down to 100–200 μJy. We show that we can homogenise the catalogues and properly account for systematic effects. We determine that we can measure the dipole to 3
σ
significance with 100 MALS pointings.
Abstract
The MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS) has observed 391 telescope pointings at the
L
band (900–1670 MHz) at
δ
≲ +20°. We present radio continuum images and a catalog of 495,325 (240,321) ...radio sources detected at a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) > 5 over an area of 2289 deg
2
(1132 deg
2
) at 1006 MHz (1381 MHz). Every MALS pointing contains a central bright radio source (
S
1 GHz
≳ 0.2 Jy). The median spatial resolution is 12″ (8″). The median rms noise away from the pointing center is 25
μ
Jy beam
−1
(22
μ
Jy beam
−1
) and is within ∼15% of the achievable theoretical sensitivity. The flux density scale ratio and astrometric accuracy deduced from multiply observed sources in MALS are <1% (8% scatter) and 1″, respectively. Through comparisons with NVSS and FIRST at 1.4 GHz, we establish the catalog’s accuracy in the flux density scale and astrometry to be better than 6% (15% scatter) and 0.″8, respectively. The median flux density offset is higher (9%) for an alternate beam model based on holographic measurements. The MALS radio source counts at 1.4 GHz are in agreement with literature. We estimate spectral indices (
α
) of a subset of 125,621 sources (S/N > 8), confirm the flattening of spectral indices with decreasing flux density, and identify 140 ultra-steep-spectrum (
α
< −1.3) sources as prospective high-
z
radio galaxies (
z
> 2). We have identified 1308 variable and 122 transient radio sources comprising primarily active galactic nuclei that demonstrate long-term (26 yr) variability in their observed flux densities. The MALS catalogs and images are publicly available at
https://mals.iucaa.in
.
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