arXiv subjects

Cyril Tasse

Publications and source records attributed to Cyril Tasse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Sub-arcsecond resolution imaging of M 51 with the International LOFAR Telescope

We present an International LOFAR Telescope sub-arcsecond resolution image of the nearby galaxy M 51 with a beam size of 0.436" x 0.366" and rms of 46 $μ$Jy. We compare this image with an European VLBI Network study of M 51, and discuss the supernovae in this galaxy, which have not yet been probed at these low radio frequencies. We find a flux density of 0.97 mJy for SN 2011dh in the ILT image, which is about five times smaller than the flux density reported by the LOFAR Twometre Sky Survey at 6" resolution using the same dataset without the international stations. This difference makes evident the need for LOFAR international baselines to reliably obtain flux density measurements of compact objects in nearby galaxies. Our LOFAR flux density measurement of SN 2011dh directly translates into fitting the radio light curves for the supernova and constraining massloss rates of progenitor star. We do not detect two other supernovae in the same galaxy, SN 1994I and SN 2005cs, and our observations place limits on the evolution of both supernovae at radio wavelengths. We also discuss the radio emission from the centre of M 51, in which we detect the Active Galactic Nucleus and other parts of the nuclear emission in the galaxy, and a possible detection of Component N. We discuss a few other sources, including the detection of a High mass X-ray Binary not detected by LoTSS, but with a flux density in the ILT image that matches well with higher frequency catalogues.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Faraday tomography of LoTSS-DR2 data: I. Faraday moments in the high-latitude outer Galaxy and revealing Loop III in polarisation

Observations of synchrotron emission at low radio frequencies reveal a labyrinth of polarised Galactic structures. However, the explanation for the wealth of structures remains uncertain due to the complex interactions between the interstellar medium and the magnetic field. A multi-tracer approach to the analysis of large sky areas is needed. This paper aims to use polarimetric images from the LOFAR Two metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) to produce the biggest mosaic of polarised emission in the northern sky at low radio frequencies (150 MHz) to date. The large area this mosaic covers allows for detailed morphological and statistical studies of polarised structures in the high-latitude outer Galaxy, including the well-known Loop III region. We produced a 3100 square degree Faraday tomographic cube using a rotation measure synthesis tool. We calculated the statistical moments of Faraday spectra and compared them with data sets at higher frequencies (1.4 GHz) and with a map of a rotation measure derived from extragalactic sources. The mosaic is dominated by polarised emission connected to Loop III. Additionally, the mosaic reveals an abundance of other morphological structures, mainly {narrow and extended} depolarisation canals, which are found to be ubiquitous. We find a correlation between the map of an extragalactic rotation measure and the LoTSS first Faraday moment image. The ratio of the two deviates from a simple model of a Burn slab (Burn 1966) along the line of sight, which highlights the high level of complexity in the magnetoionic medium that can be studied at these frequencies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The discovery of a radio galaxy of at least 5 Mpc

We discover what is in projection the largest known structure of galactic origin: a giant radio galaxy with a projected proper length of $4.99 \pm 0.04\ \mathrm{Mpc}$. The source, named Alcyoneus, was first identified in low-resolution LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey images from which angularly compact sources had been removed. Being an extreme example in its class, Alcyoneus could shed light on the main mechanisms that drive radio galaxy growth. We find that - beyond geometry - Alcyoneus and its host galaxy appear suspiciously ordinary: the total low-frequency luminosity density, stellar mass and supermassive black hole mass are all lower than, though similar to, those of the medial giant radio galaxy (percentiles $45 \pm 3\%$, $25 \pm 9 \%$ and $23 \pm 11 \%$, respectively). The source resides in a filament of the Cosmic Web, with which it might have significant thermodynamic interaction. At $5 \cdot 10^{-16}\ \mathrm{Pa}$, the pressures in the lobes are the lowest hitherto found, and Alcyoneus therefore represents one of the most promising radio galaxies yet to probe the warm-hot intergalactic medium.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

The Galactic Faraday rotation sky 2020

This work gives an update to existing reconstructions of the Galactic Faraday rotation sky by processing almost all Faraday rotation data sets available at the end of the year 2020. Observations of extra-Galactic sources in recent years have, among other regions, further illuminated the previously under-constrained southern celestial sky, as well as parts of the inner disc of the Milky Way. This has culminated in an all-sky data set of 55,190 data points, which is a significant expansion on the 41,330 used in previous works, hence making an updated separation of the Galactic component a promising venture. The increased source density allows us to present our results in a resolution of about $1.3\cdot 10^{-2}\, \mathrm{deg}^2$ ($46.8\,\mathrm{arcmin}^2$), which is a twofold increase compared to previous works. As for previous Faraday rotation sky reconstructions, this work is based on information field theory, a Bayesian inference scheme for field-like quantities which handles noisy and incomplete data. In contrast to previous reconstructions, we find a significantly thinner and pronounced Galactic disc with small-scale structures exceeding values of several thousand $\mathrm{rad}\,\mathrm{m}^{-2}$. The improvements can mainly be attributed to the new catalog of Faraday data, but are also supported by advances in correlation structure modeling within numerical information field theory. We furthermore give a detailed discussion on statistical properties of the Faraday rotation sky and investigate correlations to other data sets.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Spectral analysis of spatially-resolved 3C295 (sub-arcsecond resolution) with the International LOFAR Telescope

3C295 is a bright, compact steep spectrum source with a well-studied integrated radio spectral energy distribution (SED) from 132 MHz to 15 GHz. However, spatially resolved spectral studies have been limited due to a lack of high resolution images at low radio frequencies. These frequencies are crucial for measuring absorption processes, and anchoring the overall spectral modelling of the radio SED. In this paper, we use International LOFAR (LOw-Frequency ARray) Telescope (ILT) observations of 3C295 to study its spatially resolved spectral properties with sub-arcsecond resolution at 132 MHz. Combining our new 132 MHz observation with archival data at 1.6 GHz, 4.8 GHz, and 15 GHz, we are able to carry out a resolved radio spectral analysis. The spectral properties of the hotspots provides evidence for low frequency flattening. In contrast, the spectral shape across the lobes is consistent with a JP spectral ageing model. Using the integrated spectral information for each component, we then fit low-frequency absorption models to the hotspots, finding that both free-free absorption and synchrotron self-absorption models provide a better fit to the data than a standard power law. Although we can say there is low-frequency absorption present in the hotspots of 3C295, future observations with the Low Band Antenna of the ILT at 55 MHz may allow us to distinguish the type of absorption.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

One- and Two-point Source Statistics from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey First Data Release

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) will map the complete Northern sky and provide an excellent opportunity to study the distribution and evolution of the large-scale structure of the Universe. We study the completeness of the LoTSS first data release (DR1) and find a point-source completeness of 99 % above flux densities of 0.8 mJy and define a suite of quality cuts. We determine the count-in-cell statistics and differential source counts statistic and measure the angular two-point correlation function of the LoTSS radio sources. The counts-in-cell statistic reveals that the distribution of radio sources cannot be described by a spatial Poisson process. Instead, a good fit is provided by a compound Poisson distribution. The differential source counts are in good agreement with previous findings in deep fields at low radio frequencies and with simulated catalogues from the SKA design study sky and the Tiered Radio Extragalactic Continuum Simulation. The angular two-point correlation is $<10^{-2}$ at angular scales $> 1$ deg. Restricting the value added source catalogue to low-noise regions and a flux density threshold of 2 mJy provides our most reliable estimate of the angular two-point correlation. For smaller flux density thresholds systematic issues are identified, most likely related to the flux density calibration of the individual pointings. Based on the distribution of photometric redshifts of LoTSS sources and the Planck 2018 best-fit cosmological model, the theoretically predicted angular two-point correlation between 0.1 deg and 6 deg agrees with the measured clustering for a subsample of radio sources with redshift information. We find agreement with the expectation of large-scale statistical isotropy of the radio sky at the per cent level. The angular two-point correlation agrees well with the expectation of the cosmological standard model. (abbreviated)

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

ASKAP reveals giant radio halos in two merging SPT galaxy clusters -- Making the case for a direction-dependent pipeline --

Early science observations from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) have revealed clear signals of diffuse radio emission associated with two clusters detected by the South Pole Telescope via their Sunyaev Zel'dovich signal. SPT CLJ0553-3342 (MACSJ0553.4-3342) and SPT CLJ0638-5358 (Abell S0592) are both high-mass lensing clusters that have undergone major mergers. To improve the data products of these ASKAP early science observations and create science-fidelity images of the galaxy clusters, we performed direction-dependent (DD) calibration and imaging using state-of-the-art software {\sc killMS} and {\sc DDFacet}. We find that artefacts in the ASKAP images are greatly reduced after directional calibration. Here we present our DD calibrated ASKAP radio images of both clusters showing unambiguous giant radio halos with largest linear scales of $\sim1$~Mpc. The halo in MACSJ0553.4-3342 was previously detected with GMRT observations at 323 MHz, but appears more extended in our ASKAP image. Although there is a shock detected in the thermal X-ray emission of this cluster, we find that the particle number density in the shocked region is too low to allow for the generation of a radio shock. The radio halo in Abell S0592 is a new discovery, and the Southwest border of the halo coincides with a shock detected in X-rays. We discuss the origins of these halos considering both the hadronic and turbulent re-acceleration models as well as sources of \textit{seed} electrons. This work gives a positive indication of the potential of ASKAP's Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) survey in detecting intracluster medium radio sources, and showcases the improvement in data products after utilising third-generation calibration techniques.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND): Science and Design

The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND) is a planned large-scale observatory of ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic particles, with energies exceeding 10^8 GeV. Its goal is to solve the long-standing mystery of the origin of UHE cosmic rays. To do this, GRAND will detect an unprecedented number of UHE cosmic rays and search for the undiscovered UHE neutrinos and gamma rays associated to them with unmatched sensitivity. GRAND will use large arrays of antennas to detect the radio emission coming from extensive air showers initiated by UHE particles in the atmosphere. Its design is modular: 20 separate, independent sub-arrays, each of 10 000 radio antennas deployed over 10 000 km^2. A staged construction plan will validate key detection techniques while achieving important science goals early. Here we present the science goals, detection strategy, preliminary design, performance goals, and construction plans for GRAND.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

A census of galaxy constituents in a Coma Progenitor observed at z>3

We present a detailed census of galaxies in and around PC217.96+32.3, a spectroscopically confirmed Coma analog at z=3.78. Diverse galaxy types identified in the field include Lya emitters (LAEs), massive star-forming galaxies, and ultra-massive galaxies (log (Mstar/Msun)>= 11) which may have already halted their star formation. The sky distribution of the star-forming galaxies suggests the presence of a significant overdensity (delta_g=8+/-2), which is spatially offset from the previously confirmed members by 3-4 Mpc to the west. Candidate quiescent and post-starburst galaxies are also found in large excess (a factor of ~ 8-15 higher surface density than the field) although their redshifts are less certain. We estimate that the total enclosed mass traced by star-forming galaxy candidates is roughly comparable to that of PC217.96+32.3 traced by the LAEs. We speculate that the true extent of PC217.96+32.3 may be larger than previously known, a half of which is missed by our LAE selection. Alternatively, the newly discovered overdensity may belong to another Coma progenitor not associated with PC217.96+32.3. Expectations from theory suggest that both scenarios are equally unlikely (<1%), particularly in the cosmic volume probed in our survey. If confirmed as a single structure, its total mass will be well in excess of Coma, making this a singularly large cosmic structure rarely seen even in large cosmological simulations. Finally, we find that the protocluster galaxies follow the same SFR-M_star scaling relation as the field galaxies, suggesting that the environmental effect at z~4 is a subtle one at best for normal star-forming galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

LoTSS/HETDEX: Optical quasars I. Low-frequency radio properties of optically selected quasars

The radio-loud/radio-quiet (RL/RQ) dichotomy in quasars is still an open question. Although it is thought that accretion onto supermassive black holes in the centre the host galaxies of quasars is responsible for some radio continuum emission, there is still a debate as to whether star formation or active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity dominate the radio continuum luminosity. To date, radio emission in quasars has been investigated almost exclusively using high-frequency observations in which the Doppler boosting might have an important effect on the measured radio luminosity, whereas extended structures, best observed at low radio frequencies, are not affected by the Doppler enhancement. We used a sample of quasars selected by their optical spectra in conjunction with sensitive and high-resolution low-frequency radio data provided by the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) as part of the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) to investigate their radio properties using the radio loudness parameter ($\mathcal{R} = \frac{L_{\mathrm{144-MHz}}}{L_{\mathrm{i\,band}}}$). The examination of the radio continuum emission and RL/RQ dichotomy in quasars exhibits that quasars show a wide continuum of radio properties (i.e. no clear bimodality in the distribution of $\mathcal{R}$). Radio continuum emission at low frequencies in low-luminosity quasars is consistent with being dominated by star formation. We see a significant albeit weak dependency of $\mathcal{R}$ on the source nuclear parameters. For the first time, we are able to resolve radio morphologies of a considerable number of quasars. All these crucial results highlight the impact of the deep and high-resolution low-frequency radio surveys that foreshadow the compelling science cases for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

The XXL Survey: XXIX. GMRT 610 MHz continuum observations

We present the 25 square-degree GMRT-XXL-N 610 MHz radio continuum survey, conducted at 50~cm wavelength with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) towards the XXL Northern field (XXL-N). We combined previously published observations of the XMM-Large Scale Structure (XMM-LSS) field, located in the central part of XXL-N, with newly conducted observations towards the remaining XXL-N area, and imaged the combined data-set using the Source Peeling and Atmospheric Modeling ({\sc SPAM}) pipeline. The final mosaic encompasses a total area of $30.4$ square degrees, with ${\rm rms}<150~μ$Jy/beam over 60\% of the area. The ${\rm rms}$ achieved in the inner 9.6 square degree area, enclosing the XMM-LSS field, is about $200~μ$Jy/beam, while that over the outer 12.66 square degree area (which excludes the noisy edges) is about $45~μ$Jy/beam. The resolution of the final mosaic is 6.5 arcsec. We present a catalogue of 5\,434 sources detected at $\geq7\times {\rm rms}$. We verify, and correct the reliability of, the catalog in terms of astrometry, flux, and false detection rate. Making use of the (to date) deepest radio continuum survey over a relatively large (2 square degree) field, complete at the flux levels probed by the GMRT-XXL-N survey, we also assess the survey's incompleteness as a function of flux density. The radio continuum sensitivity reached over a large field with a wealth of multi-wavelength data available makes the GMRT-XXL-N 610 MHz survey an important asset for studying the physical properties, environments and cosmic evolution of radio sources, in particular radio-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

On the variance of radio interferometric calibration solutions: Quality-based Weighting Schemes

This paper investigates the possibility of improving radio interferometric images using an algorithm inspired by an optical method known as "lucky imaging", which would give more weight to the best-calibrated visibilities used to make a given image. A fundamental relationship between the statistics of interferometric calibration solution residuals and those of the image-plane pixels is derived in this paper. This relationship allows us to understand and describe the statistical properties of the residual image. In this framework, the noise-map can be described as the Fourier transform of the covariance between residual visibilities in a new differential Fourier plane. Image-plane artefacts can be seen as one realisation of the pixel covariance distribution, which can be estimated from the antenna gain statistics. Based on this relationship, we propose a means of improving images made with calibrated visibilities using weighting schemes. This improvement would occur after calibration, but before imaging - it is thus ideally used between major iterations of self-calibration loops. Applying the weighting scheme to simulated data improves the noise level in the final image at negligible computational cost.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

LOFAR/H-ATLAS: The low-frequency radio luminosity - star-formation rate relation

Radio emission is a key indicator of star-formation activity in galaxies, but the radio luminosity-star formation relation has to date been studied almost exclusively at frequencies of 1.4 GHz or above. At lower radio frequencies the effects of thermal radio emission are greatly reduced, and so we would expect the radio emission observed to be completely dominated by synchrotron radiation from supernova-generated cosmic rays. As part of the LOFAR Surveys Key Science project, the Herschel-ATLAS NGP field has been surveyed with LOFAR at an effective frequency of 150 MHz. We select a sample from the MPA-JHU catalogue of SDSS galaxies in this area: the combination of Herschel, optical and mid-infrared data enable us to derive star-formation rates (SFRs) for our sources using spectral energy distribution fitting, allowing a detailed study of the low-frequency radio luminosity--star-formation relation in the nearby Universe. For those objects selected as star-forming galaxies (SFGs) using optical emission line diagnostics, we find a tight relationship between the 150 MHz radio luminosity ($L_{150}$) and SFR. Interestingly, we find that a single power-law relationship between $L_{150}$ and SFR is not a good description of all SFGs: a broken power law model provides a better fit. This may indicate an additional mechanism for the generation of radio-emitting cosmic rays. Also, at given SFR, the radio luminosity depends on the stellar mass of the galaxy. Objects which were not classified as SFGs have higher 150-MHz radio luminosity than would be expected given their SFR, implying an important role for low-level active galactic nucleus activity.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND): Present and Perspectives

The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND) aims at detecting ultra-high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos via the extensive air showers induced by the decay of tau leptons created in the interaction of neutrinos under the Earth's surface. Consisting of an array of $\sim10^5$ radio antennas deployed over $\sim 2\times10^5\,\rm {km}^2$, GRAND plans to reach, for the first time, an all-flavor sensitivity of $\sim1.5\times10^{-10} \,\rm GeV\, cm^{-2} \,s^{-1}\, sr^{-1}$ above $5\times10^{17}$ eV and a sub-degree angular resolution, beyond the reach of other planned detectors. We describe here preliminary designs and simulation results, plans for the ongoing, staged approach to the construction of GRAND, and the rich research program made possible by GRAND's design sensitivity and angular resolution.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Sparse representations and convex optimization as tools for LOFAR radio interferometric imaging

Compressed sensing theory is slowly making its way to solve more and more astronomical inverse problems. We address here the application of sparse representations, convex optimization and proximal theory to radio interferometric imaging. First, we expose the theory behind interferometric imaging, sparse representations and convex optimization, and second, we illustrate their application with numerical tests with SASIR, an implementation of the FISTA, a Forward-Backward splitting algorithm hosted in a LOFAR imager. Various tests have been conducted in Garsden et al., 2015. The main results are: i) an improved angular resolution (super resolution of a factor ~2) with point sources as compared to CLEAN on the same data, ii) correct photometry measurements on a field of point sources at high dynamic range and iii) the imaging of extended sources with improved fidelity. SASIR provides better reconstructions (five time less residuals) of the extended emission as compared to CLEAN. With the advent of large radiotelescopes, there is scope for improving classical imaging methods with convex optimization methods combined with sparse representations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Montblanc: GPU accelerated Radio Interferometer Measurement Equations in support of Bayesian Inference for Radio Observations

We present Montblanc, a GPU implementation of the Radio interferometer measurement equation (RIME) in support of the Bayesian inference for radio observations (BIRO) technique. BIRO uses Bayesian inference to select sky models that best match the visibilities observed by a radio interferometer. To accomplish this, BIRO evaluates the RIME multiple times, varying sky model parameters to produce multiple model visibilities. Chi-squared values computed from the model and observed visibilities are used as likelihood values to drive the Bayesian sampling process and select the best sky model. As most of the elements of the RIME and chi-squared calculation are independent of one another, they are highly amenable to parallel computation. Additionally, Montblanc caters for iterative RIME evaluation to produce multiple chi-squared values. Modified model parameters are transferred to the GPU between each iteration. We implemented Montblanc as a Python package based upon NVIDIA's CUDA architecture. As such, it is easy to extend and implement different pipelines. At present, Montblanc supports point and Gaussian morphologies, but is designed for easy addition of new source profiles. Montblanc's RIME implementation is performant: On an NVIDIA K40, it is approximately 250 times faster than MeqTrees on a dual hexacore Intel E5-2620v2 CPU. Compared to the OSKAR simulator's GPU-implemented RIME components it is 7.7 and 12 times faster on the same K40 for single and double-precision floating point respectively. However, OSKAR's RIME implementation is more general than Montblanc's BIRO-tailored RIME. Theoretical analysis of Montblanc's dominant CUDA kernel suggests that it is memory bound. In practice, profiling shows that is balanced between compute and memory, as much of the data required by the problem is retained in L1 and L2 cache.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2015

KAT-7 detection of radio halo emission in the Triangulum Australis galaxy cluster

We report the presence of high significance diffuse radio emission from the Triangulum Australis cluster using observations made with the KAT-7 telescope and propose that this emission is a giant radio halo. We compare the radio power from this proposed halo with X-ray and SZ measurements and demonstrate that it is consistent with the established scaling relations for cluster haloes. By combining the X-ray and SZ data we calculate the ratio of non-thermal to thermal electron pressure within Triangulum Australis to be $X=0.658\pm0.054$. We use this ratio to constrain the maximum magnetic field strength within the halo region to be $B_{\rm max, halo} = 33.08\,μ$G and compare this with the minimum field strength from equipartition of $B_{\rm min, halo} = 0.77(1+k)^{2/7}\,μ$G to place limits on the range of allowed magnetic field strength within this cluster. We compare these values to those for more well-studied systems and discuss these results in the context of equipartition of non-thermal energy densities within clusters of galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Radio interferometric gain calibration as a complex optimization problem

Recent developments in optimization theory have extended some traditional algorithms for least-squares optimization of real-valued functions (Gauss-Newton, Levenberg-Marquardt, etc.) into the domain of complex functions of a complex variable. This employs a formalism called the Wirtinger derivative, and derives a full-complex Jacobian counterpart to the conventional real Jacobian. We apply these developments to the problem of radio interferometric gain calibration, and show how the general complex Jacobian formalism, when combined with conventional optimization approaches, yields a whole new family of calibration algorithms, including those for the polarized and direction-dependent gain regime. We further extend the Wirtinger calculus to an operator-based matrix calculus for describing the polarized calibration regime. Using approximate matrix inversion results in computationally efficient implementations; we show that some recently proposed calibration algorithms such as StefCal and peeling can be understood as special cases of this, and place them in the context of the general formalism. Finally, we present an implementation and some applied results of CohJones, another specialized direction-dependent calibration algorithm derived from the formalism.

astro-ph.IM↗