Gravitational waves have been detected from a binary neutron star merger event, GW170817. The detection of electromagnetic radiation from the same source has shown that the merger occurred in the ...outskirts of the galaxy NGC 4993, at a distance of 40 megaparsecs from Earth. We report the detection of a counterpart radio source that appears 16 days after the event, allowing us to diagnose the energetics and environment of the merger. The observed radio emission can be explained by either a collimated ultrarelativistic jet, viewed off-axis, or a cocoon of mildly relativistic ejecta. Within 100 days of the merger, the radio light curves will enable observers to distinguish between these models, and the angular velocity and geometry of the debris will be directly measurable by very long baseline interferometry.
ABSTRACT
Like the magnetized planets in our Solar system, magnetized exoplanets should emit strongly at radio wavelengths. Radio emission directly traces the planetary magnetic fields and radio ...detections can place constraints on the physical parameters of these features. Large comparative studies of predicted radio emission characteristics for the known population of exoplanets help to identify what physical parameters could be the key for producing bright, observable radio emission. Since the last comparative study, many thousands of exoplanets have been discovered. We report new estimates for the radio flux densities and maximum emission frequencies for the current population of known exoplanets orbiting pre-main-sequence and main-sequence stars with spectral types F-M. The set of exoplanets predicted to produce observable radio emission are Hot Jupiters orbiting young stars. The youth of these systems predicts strong stellar magnetic fields and/or dense winds, which are the key for producing bright, observable radio emission. We use a new all-sky circular polarization Murchison Widefield Array survey to place sensitive limits on 200 MHz emission from exoplanets, with 3σ values ranging from 4.0 to 45.0 mJy. Using a targeted Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope observing campaign, we also report a 3σ upper limit of 4.5 mJy on the radio emission from V830 Tau b, the first Hot Jupiter to be discovered orbiting a pre-main-sequence star. Our limit is the first to be reported for the low-frequency radio emission from this source.
We present new 0.6-10 GHz observations of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 covering the period up to 300 days post-merger, taken with the upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the ...Australia Telescope Compact Array, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and the MeerKAT telescope. We use these data to precisely characterize the decay phase of the late-time radio light curve. We find that the temporal decay is consistent with a power-law slope of t−2.2, and that the transition between the power-law rise and decay is relatively sharp. Such a slope cannot be produced by a quasi-isotropic (cocoon-dominated) outflow, but is instead the classic signature of a relativistic jet. This provides strong observational evidence that GW170817 produced a successful jet, and directly demonstrates the link between binary neutron star mergers and short-hard gamma-ray bursts. Using simple analytical arguments, we derive constraints on the geometry and the jet opening angle of GW170817. These results are consistent with those from our companion very long baseline interferometry paper, reporting superluminal motion in GW170817.
We present a sample of 1483 sources that display spectral peaks between 72 MHz and 1.4 GHz, selected from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. The GLEAM ...survey is the widest fractional bandwidth all-sky survey to date, ideal for identifying peaked-spectrum sources at low radio frequencies. Our peaked-spectrum sources are the low-frequency analogs of gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact-steep spectrum (CSS) sources, which have been hypothesized to be the precursors to massive radio galaxies. Our sample more than doubles the number of known peaked-spectrum candidates, and 95% of our sample have a newly characterized spectral peak. We highlight that some GPS sources peaking above 5 GHz have had multiple epochs of nuclear activity, and we demonstrate the possibility of identifying high-redshift (z > 2) galaxies via steep optically thin spectral indices and low observed peak frequencies. The distribution of the optically thick spectral indices of our sample is consistent with past GPS/CSS samples but with a large dispersion, suggesting that the spectral peak is a product of an inhomogeneous environment that is individualistic. We find no dependence of observed peak frequency with redshift, consistent with the peaked-spectrum sample comprising both local CSS sources and high-redshift GPS sources. The 5 GHz luminosity distribution lacks the brightest GPS and CSS sources of previous samples, implying that a convolution of source evolution and redshift influences the type of peaked-spectrum sources identified below 1 GHz. Finally, we discuss sources with optically thick spectral indices that exceed the synchrotron self-absorption limit.
Abstract
We present a low-frequency, broad-band polarization study of the FRII radio galaxy PKS J0636−2036 (z = 0.0551), using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) from 70 to 230 MHz. The northern and ...southern hotspots (separated by ∼14.5 arcmin on the sky) are resolved by the MWA (3.3 arcmin resolution) and both are detected in linear polarization across the full frequency range. A combination of Faraday rotation measure (RM) synthesis and broad-band polarization model fitting is used to constrain the Faraday depolarization properties of the source. For the integrated southern hotspot emission, two-RM-component models are strongly favoured over a single RM component, and the best-fitting model requires Faraday dispersions of approximately 0.7 and 1.2 rad m−2 (with a mean RM of ∼50 rad m−2). High-resolution imaging at 5 arcsec with the Australia Telescope Compact Array shows significant sub-structure in the southern hotspot and highlights some of the limitations in the polarization modelling of the MWA data. Based on the observed depolarization, combined with extrapolations of gas density scaling relations for group environments, we estimate magnetic field strengths in the intergalactic medium between ∼0.04 and 0.5 μG. We also comment on future prospects of detecting more polarized sources at low frequencies.
We have detected four flares from UV Ceti at 154 MHz using the Murchison Widefield Array. The flares have flux densities between 10 and 65 mJy-a factor of 100 fainter than most flares in the ...literature at these frequencies-and are only detected in polarization. The circular polarized fractions are limited to % at 3 confidence and two of the flares exhibit polarity reversal. We suggest that these flares occur periodically on a timescale consistent with the rotational period of UV Ceti. During the brightest observed flare, we also detect significant linear polarization with a polarization fraction %. Averaging the data in 6 minute, 10 MHz frequency bins we find that the flux density of these flares does not vary over the 30 MHz bandwidth of the Murchison Widefield Array; however, we cannot rule out finer time-frequency structure. Using the measured flux densities for the flares, we estimate brightness temperatures between K, indicative of a coherent emission mechanism. The brightness temperature and polarization characteristics point to the electron cyclotron maser mechanism. We also calculate the flare rates given our four observed flares and compare them to flare rates for the set of M dwarf stars with known 100-200 MHz flares. Our measurement is the first for flares with intensities mJy at 100-200 MHz.
Abstract
We present a search for the synchrotron emission from the synchrotron cosmic web by cross-correlating 180-MHz radio images from the Murchison Widefield Array with tracers of large-scale ...structure (LSS). We use two versions of the radio image covering 21$_{.}^{\circ}$76 × 21$_{.}^{\circ}$76 with point sources brighter than 0.05 Jy subtracted, with and without filtering of Galactic emission. As tracers of the LSS, we use the Two Micron All-Sky Survey and the Wide-field InfraRed Explorer redshift catalogues to produce galaxy number density maps. The cross-correlation functions all show peak amplitudes at 0°, decreasing with varying slopes towards zero correlation over a range of 1°. The cross-correlation signals include components from point source, Galactic, and extragalactic diffuse emission. We use models of the diffuse emission from smoothing the density maps with Gaussians of sizes 1–4 Mpc to find limits on the cosmic web components. From these models, we find surface brightness 99.7 per cent upper limits in the range of 0.09–2.20 mJy beam−1 (average beam size of 2.6 arcmin), corresponding to 0.01–0.30 mJy arcmin−2. Assuming equipartition between energy densities of cosmic rays and the magnetic field, the flux density limits translate to magnetic field strength limits of 0.03–1.98 μG, depending heavily on the spectral index. We conclude that for a 3σ detection of 0.1 μG magnetic field strengths via cross-correlations, image depths of sub-mJy to sub-μJy are necessary. We include discussion on the treatment and effect of extragalactic point sources and Galactic emission, and next steps for building on this work.
This paper offers an electromagnetic, more specifically array theory, perspective on understanding strong instrumental polarization effects for planar low‐frequency “aperture arrays” with the ...Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) as an example. A long‐standing issue that has been seen here is significant instrumental Stokes leakage after calibration, particularly in Stokes Q at high frequencies. A simple model that accounts for interelement mutual coupling is presented which explains the prominence of Q leakage seen when the array is scanned away from zenith in the principal planes. On these planes, the model predicts current imbalance in the X (E‐W) and Y (N‐S) dipoles and hence the Q leakage. Although helpful in concept, we find that this model is inadequate to explain the full details of the observation data. This finding motivates further experimentation with more rigorous models that account for both mutual coupling and embedded element patterns. Two more rigorous models are discussed: the “full” and “average” embedded element patterns. The viability of the full model is demonstrated by simulating current MWA practice of using a Hertzian dipole model as a Jones matrix estimate. We find that these results replicate the observed Q leakage to approximately 2 to 5%. Finally, we offer more direct indication for the level of improvement expected from upgrading the Jones matrix estimate with more rigorous models. Using the average embedded pattern as an estimate for the full model, we find that Q leakage of a few percent is achievable.
Key Points
We offer new insight into strong instrumental polarization seen in MWA
We offer simple and rigorous models to account for this
We are able to replicate observed data and offer an estimate on improvement
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