We present the description and early results of the mJy Imaging VLBA Exploration at 20 cm (mJIVE-20). The survey is being undertaken using filler time on the VLBA, which utilizes short segments ...scheduled in bad weather and/or with a reduced number of antennas, during which no highly rated science projects can be scheduled. The results of the mJIVE-20 survey are made publicly available as soon as the data are calibrated. Over half of all arcsecond-scale mJy radio sources contain a compact component, although the fraction of sources that are dominated by milliarcsecond scale structure is smaller at around 30%-35%, increasing toward lower flux densities. Significant differences are seen depending on the optical classification of the source. These results are consistent with a unification model of active galactic nuclei in which less luminous sources have on average slower radio jets, with lower Doppler suppression of compact core emission over a wider range of viewing angles.
Context. Quantifying the fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the faint radio population and understanding their relation with star-forming activity are fundamental to studies of galaxy ...evolution. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations are able to identify AGN above relatively low redshifts (z> 0.1) since they provide milli-arcsecond resolution. Aims. We have created an AGN catalogue from 2865 known radio sources observed in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, which has exceptional multi-wavelength coverage. With this catalogue we intend to study the faint radio sky with statistically relevant numbers and to analyse the AGN – host galaxy co-evolution, making use of the large amount of ancillary data available in the field. Methods. Wide-field VLBI observations were made of all known radio sources in the COSMOS field at 1.4 GHz to measure the AGN fraction, in particular in the faint radio population. We describe in detail the observations, data calibration, source detection and flux density measurements, parts of which we have developed for this survey. The combination of number of sources, sensitivity, and area covered with this project are unprecedented. Results. We have detected 468 radio sources, expected to be AGN, with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). This is, to date, the largest sample assembled of VLBI detected sources in the sub-mJy regime. The input sample was taken from previous observations with the Very Large Array (VLA). We present the catalogue with additional optical, infrared and X-ray information. Conclusions. We find a detection fraction of 20 ± 1%, considering only those sources from the input catalogue which were in principle detectable with the VLBA (2361). As a function of the VLA flux density, the detection fraction is higher for higher flux densities, since at high flux densities a source could be detected even if the VLBI core accounts for a small percentage of the total flux density. As a function of redshift, we see no evolution of the detection fraction over the redshift range 0.5 <z< 3. In addition, we find that faint radio sources typically have a greater fraction of their radio luminosity in a compact core – ~70% of the sub-mJy sources detected with the VLBA have more than half of their total radio luminosity in a VLBI-scale component, whereas this is true for only ~30% of the sources that are brighter than 10 mJy. This suggests that fainter radio sources differ intrinsically from brighter ones. Across our entire sample, we find the predominant morphological classification of the host galaxies of the VLBA detected sources to be early type (57%), although this varies with redshift and at z> 1.5 we find that spiral galaxies become the most prevalent (48%). The number of detections is high enough to study the faint radio population with statistically significant numbers. We demonstrate that wide-field VLBI observations, together with new calibration methods such as multi-source self-calibration and mosaicing, result in information which is difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise.
We examine the processes triggering star formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in a sample of 25 low-redshift (z < 0.13) gas-rich galaxy mergers observed at milliarcsecond resolution ...with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) as part of the mJy Imaging VLBA Exploration at 20 cm (mJIVE-20) survey. The high (>10 super( 7) K) brightness temperature required for an mJIVE-20 detection allows us to unambiguously identify the radio AGN in our sample. We find three such objects. Our VLBI AGN identifications are classified as Seyferts or low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs) in narrow line optical diagnostic plots; mid-infrared colours of our targets and the comparison of H... star formation rates with integrated radio luminosity are also consistent with the VLBI identifications. We reconstruct star formation histories in our galaxies using optical and UV photometry, and find that these radio AGN are not triggered promptly in the merger process, consistent with previous findings for non-VLBI samples of radio AGN. This delay can significantly limit the efficiency of feedback by radio AGN triggered in galaxy mergers. We find that radio AGN hosts have lower star formation rates than non-AGN radio-selected galaxies at the same starburst age. Conventional and VLBI radio imaging shows these AGN to be compact on arcsecond scales. Our modelling suggests that the actual sizes of AGN-inflated radio lobes may be much larger than this, but these are too faint to be detected in existing observations. Deep radio imaging is required to map out the true extent of the AGN, and to determine whether the low star formation rates in radio AGN hosts are a result of the special conditions required for radio jet triggering, or the effect of AGN feedback. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
The origin of the radio emission in radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) has been a matter of debate for a long time. It is not well understood whether the emission is caused by star formation in the host ...galaxy or by black hole activity of the active galactic nuclei (AGN). We shed some light on these questions using the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique to search for RQQs in the field of the Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS). The extensive multi-wavelength coverage of the field (from radio to X-rays) was used to classify RQQs, and the milli-arcsecond resolution of VLBI provides a direct way to identify AGNs. In a sample of 18 RQQs we detected 3 using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 1.4 GHz. In this Letter we report for the first time on a sample of RQQs with a measured lower limit on the fraction of radio emission coming from the AGN, thus demonstrating that the radio emission of at least some RQQs is dominated by an AGN.
Simulations of galaxy growth need to invoke strong negative feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to suppress the formation of stars and thus prevent the over-production of very massive ...systems. While some observations provide evidence for such negative feedback, other studies find either no feedback or even positive feedback, with increased star formation associated with higher AGN luminosities. Here we report an analysis of several hundred AGNs and their host galaxies in the Chandra Deep Field South using X-ray and radio data for sample selection. Combined with archival far-infrared data as a reliable tracer of star formation activity in the AGN host galaxies, we find that AGNs with pronounced radio jets exhibit a much higher star formation rate (SFR) than the purely X-ray-selected ones, even at the same X-ray luminosities. This difference implies that positive AGN feedback plays an important role, too, and therefore has to be accounted for in all future simulation work. We interpret this to indicate that the enhanced SFR of radio-selected AGNs arises because of jet-induced star formation, as is suggested by the different jet powers among our AGN samples, while the suppressed SFR of X-ray selected AGN is caused by heating and photo-dissociation of molecular gas by the hot AGN accretion disk.
Software correlation, where a correlation algorithm written in a high-level language such as C++ is run on commodity computer hardware, has become increasingly attractive for small- to medium-sized ...and/or bandwidth-constrained radio interferometers. In particular, many long-baseline arrays (which typically have fewer than 20 elements and are restricted in observing bandwidth by costly recording hardware and media) have utilized software correlators for rapid, cost-effective, correlator upgrades to allow compatibility with new, wider-bandwidth, recording systems and to improve correlator flexibility. The DiFX correlator, made publicly available in 2007, has been a popular choice in such upgrades and is now used for production correlation by a number of observatories and research groups worldwide. Here, we describe the evolution in the capabilities of the DiFX correlator over the past three years, including a number of new capabilities, substantial performance improvements, and a large amount of supporting infrastructure to ease use of the code. New capabilities include the ability to correlate a large number of phase centers in a single correlation pass, the extraction of phase-calibration tones, correlation of disparate but overlapping sub-bands, the production of rapidly sampled filter-bank and kurtosis data at minimal cost, and many more. The latest version of the code is at least 15% faster than the original (and in certain situations, many times this value). Finally, we also present detailed test results validating the correctness of the new code.
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.
We present the third data release from the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey. These data combine the observations at 1.4 GHz before and after upgrades to the Australia Telescope Compact Array ...reaching a sensitivity of 14 μJy beam−1 in 3.6 deg2 over the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) and of 17 μJy beam−1 in 2.7 deg2 over the European Large Area ISO Survey South 1 (ELAIS-S1). We used a variety of array configurations to maximize the uv coverage resulting in a resolution of 16 by 7 arcsec in CDFS and of 12 by 8 arcsec in ELAIS-S1. After correcting for peak bias and bandwidth smearing, we find a total of 3034 radio source components above 5σ in CDFS, of which 514 (17 per cent) are considered to be extended. The number of components detected above 5σ in ELAIS-S1 is 2084, of which 392 (19 per cent) are classified as extended. The catalogues include reliable spectral indices (Δα < 0.2) between 1.40 and 1.71 GHz for ∼350 of the brightest components.
Abstract
We present blobcat, new source extraction software that utilizes the flood fill algorithm to detect and catalogue blobs, or islands of pixels representing sources, in 2D astronomical images. ...The software is designed to process radio-wavelength images of both Stokes I intensity and linear polarization, the latter formed through the quadrature sum of Stokes Q and U intensities or as a by-product of rotation measure synthesis. We discuss an objective, automated method by which estimates of position-dependent background root mean square noise may be obtained and incorporated into blobcat's analysis. We derive and implement within blobcat corrections for two systematic biases to enable the flood fill algorithm to accurately measure flux densities for Gaussian sources. We discuss the treatment of non-Gaussian sources in light of these corrections. We perform simulations to validate the flux density and positional measurement performance of blobcat, and we benchmark the results against those of a standard Gaussian fitting task. We demonstrate that blobcat exhibits accurate measurement performance in total intensity and, in particular, linear polarization. blobcat is particularly suited to the analysis of large survey data.
PDF
