arXiv subjects

Ilse M. van Bemmel

Publications and source records attributed to Ilse M. van Bemmel.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

CASA on the fringe -- Development of VLBI processing capabilities for CASA

New functionality to process Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) data has been implemented in the CASA package. This includes two new tasks to handle fringe fitting and VLBI-specific amplitude calibration steps. Existing tasks have been adjusted to handle VLBI visibility data and calibration meta-data properly. With these updates, it is now possible to process VLBI continuum and spectral line observations in CASA. This article describes the development and implementation, and presents an outline for the workflow when calibrating European VLBI Network or Very Long Baseline Array data in CASA. Though the CASA VLBI functionality has already been vetted extensively as part of the Event Horizon Telescope data processing, in this paper we compare results for the same dataset processed in CASA and AIPS. We find identical results for the two packages and conclude that CASA in some cases performs better, though it cannot match AIPS for single-core processing time. The new functionality in CASA allows for easy development of pipelines or Jupyter notebooks, and thus contributes to raising VLBI data processing to present day standards for accessibility, reproducibility, and reusability.

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arXiv2022

CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications for Radio Astronomy

CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications, is the primary data processing software for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), and is frequently used also for other radio telescopes. The CASA software can handle data from single-dish, aperture-synthesis, and Very Long Baseline Interferometery (VLBI) telescopes. One of its core functionalities is to support the calibration and imaging pipelines for ALMA, VLA, VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), and the Nobeyama 45m telescope. This paper presents a high-level overview of the basic structure of the CASA software, as well as procedures for calibrating and imaging astronomical radio data in CASA. CASA is being developed by an international consortium of scientists and software engineers based at the National Radio Astronomical Observatory (NRAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), and the Joint Institute for VLBI European Research Infrastructure Consortium (JIV-ERIC), under the guidance of NRAO.

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arXiv2021

A compact core-jet structure in the changing-look Seyfert NGC 2617

The nearby face-on spiral galaxy NGC 2617 underwent an unambiguous 'inside-out' multi-wavelength outburst in Spring 2013, and a dramatic Seyfert type change probably between 2010 and 2012, with the emergence of broad optical emission lines. To search for the jet activity associated with this variable accretion activity, we carried out multi-resolution and multi-wavelength radio observations. Using the very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations with the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 1.7 and 5.0 GHz, we find that NGC 2617 shows a partially synchrotron self-absorbed compact radio core with a significant core shift, and an optically thin steep-spectrum jet extending towards the north up to about two parsecs in projection. We also observed NGC 2617 with the electronic Multi-Element Remotely Linked Interferometer Network (e-MERLIN) at 1.5 and 5.5 GHz, and revisited the archival data of the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The radio core had a stable flux density of about 1.4 mJy at 5.0 GHz between 2013 June and 2014 January, in agreement with the expectation of a supermassive black hole in the low accretion rate state. The northern jet component is unlikely to be associated with the 'inside-out' outburst of 2013. Moreover, we report that most optically selected changing-look AGN at z<0.83 are sub-mJy radio sources in the existing VLA surveys at 1.4 GHz, and it is unlikely that they are more active than normal AGN at radio frequencies.

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arXiv2020

A LOFAR Observation of Ionospheric Scintillation from Two Simultaneous Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances

This paper presents the results from one of the first observations of ionospheric scintillation taken using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The observation was of the strong natural radio source Cas A, taken overnight on 18-19 August 2013, and exhibited moderately strong scattering effects in dynamic spectra of intensity received across an observing bandwidth of 10-80MHz. Delay-Doppler spectra (the 2-D FFT of the dynamic spectrum) from the first hour of observation showed two discrete parabolic arcs, one with a steep curvature and the other shallow, which can be used to provide estimates of the distance to, and velocity of, the scattering plasma. A cross-correlation analysis of data received by the dense array of stations in the LOFAR "core" reveals two different velocities in the scintillation pattern: a primary velocity of ~30m/s with a north-west to south-east direction, associated with the steep parabolic arc and a scattering altitude in the F-region or higher, and a secondary velocity of ~110m/s with a north-east to south-west direction, associated with the shallow arc and a scattering altitude in the D-region. Geomagnetic activity was low in the mid-latitudes at the time, but a weak sub-storm at high latitudes reached its peak at the start of the observation. An analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and ionosonde data from the time reveals a larger-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID), possibly the result of the high-latitude activity, travelling in the north-west to south-east direction, and, simultaneously, a smaller--scale TID travelling in a north-east to south-west direction, which could be associated with atmospheric gravity wave activity. The LOFAR observation shows scattering from both TIDs, at different altitudes and propagating in different directions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been reported.

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arXiv2019

rPICARD: A CASA-based Calibration Pipeline for VLBI Data. Calibration and imaging of 7 mm VLBA observations of the AGN jet in M87

(Abridged) The CASA software suite, can now reduce very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data with the recent addition of a fringe fitter. Here, we present the Radboud PIpeline for the Calibration of high Angular Resolution Data (rPICARD), which is an open-source VLBI calibration and imaging pipeline built on top of the CASA framework. The pipeline is capable of reducing data from different VLBI arrays. It can be run non-interactively after only a few non-default input parameters are set and delivers high-quality calibrated data. CPU scalability based on a message-passing interface (MPI) implementation ensures that large bandwidth data from future arrays can be processed within reasonable computing times. Phase calibration is done with a Schwab-Cotton fringe fit algorithm. For the calibration of residual atmospheric effects, optimal solution intervals are determined based on the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the data for each scan. Different solution intervals can be set for different antennas in the same scan to increase the number of detections in the low S/N regime. These novel techniques allow rPICARD to calibrate data from different arrays, including high-frequency and low-sensitivity arrays. The amplitude calibration is based on standard telescope metadata, and a robust algorithm can solve for atmospheric opacity attenuation in the high-frequency regime. Standard CASA tasks are used for CLEAN imaging and self-calibration. In this work we demonstrate the capabilities of rPICARD by calibrating and imaging 7 mm VLBA data of the central radio source in the M87 galaxy. The reconstructed jet image reveals a complex collimation profile and edge-brightened structure. A potential counter-jet is detected that has 10 % of the brightness of the approaching jet. This constrains jet speeds close to the radio core to about half the speed of light for small inclination angles.

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arXiv2012

A relation between circumnuclear HI, dust, and optical cores in low-power radio galaxies

From new observations and literature data we investigate the presence of HI, dust, and optical cores in the central kiloparsec of low-power radio galaxies. The goal of this pilot study is to identify physical relations between these components, which can help us to study kinematics and feeding mechanisms in future samples of active galaxies. Our results are consistent with neutral gas being associated with dust on sub-kiloparsec scales. Objects that have HI absorption always have significant amounts of dust in their host galaxy. If there is no visible dust in the host galaxy, there is also no HI absorption. The presence of an unresolved optical core correlates with the HI column density, with the core being absent in high column density sources. This work opens a path for studying the kinematics of cold material in the central regions of active galaxies by combining information of HI absorption and molecular lines. Consistent with previous work, we find no evidence for a compact, parsec-scale obscuring torus in low-power radio galaxies.

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arXiv2012

Mid-frequency aperture arrays: the future of radio astronomy

Aperture array (AA) technology is at the forefront of new developments and discoveries in radio astronomy. Currently LOFAR is successfully demonstrating the capabilities of dense and sparse AA's at low frequencies. For the mid-frequencies, from 450 to 1450MHz, AA's still have to prove their scientific value with respect to the existing dish technology. Their large field-of-view and high flexibility puts them in an excellent position to do so. The Aperture Array Verification Program is dedicated to demonstrate the feasibility of AA's for science in general and SKA in particular. For the mid-frequency range this has lead to the development of EMBRACE, which has already demonstrated the enormous flexibility of AA systems by observing HI and a pulsar simultaneously. It also serves as a testbed to demonstrate the technological reliability and stability of AA's. The next step will put AA technology at a level where it can be used for cutting-edge science. In this paper we discuss the developments to move AA technology from an engineering activity to a fully science capable instrument. We present current results from EMBRACE, ongoing tests of the system, and plans for EMMA, the next step in mid-frequency AA technology.

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arXiv2003

Polarization and kinematics in Cygnus A

From optical spectropolarimetry of Cygnus A we conclude that the scattering medium in the ionization cones in Cygnus A is moving outward at a speed of 170+-34 km/s, and that the required momentum can be supplied by the radiation pressure of an average quasar. Such a process could produce a structure resembling the observed ionization cones, which are thought to result from shadowing by a circumnuclear dust torus. We detect a polarized red wing in the [O III] emission lines arising from the central kiloparsec of Cygnus A. This wing is consistent with line emission created close to the boundary of the broad-line region.

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arXiv2000

ISOPHOT observations of 3CR quasars and radio galaxies

In order to check for consistency with the radio-loud AGN unification scheme, ISOPHOT data obtained for two small sets of intermediate redshift steep-spectrum 3CR radio galaxies and quasars are being examined. Supplementary submillimeter and centimeter radio data for the quasars are also taken into account, in order to assess the magnitude of any beamed nonthermal radiation. The fact that we find broad-lined objects to be somewhat more luminous in their far-infrared output than narrow-lined objects, hints at a contradiction to the unification scheme. However, as the sample objects are not particularly well matched, the sample size is small, and the FIR radiation may still be partly anisotropic, this evidence is, at the moment, weak.

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arXiv1999

Infrared emission from radio-loud active nuclei

In order to test the unification scheme for double-lobed radio sources, the far-infrared properties of matched samples of radio-galaxies and radio-loud quasars were studied using ISOPHOT. The quasar data were complemented with nearly simultaneous submillimeter and centimeter radio data. The results show that quasars are generally brighter than radio-galaxies in their far-infrared output and that beamed non-thermal radiation must be excluded as source for this infrared excess. However, non-thermal flares or optically thick tori can still reconcile these results with the unification scheme.

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arXiv1998

Nature of 60 micron emission in 3C47, 3C207 and 3C334

We try to explain the unusually high far-infrared emission seen by IRAS in the double-lobed radio-loud quasars 3C47, 3C207 and 3C334. High resolution cm--mm observations were carried out to determine their radio core spectra, which are subsequently extrapolated to the far-infrared in order to determine the strength of the synchrotron far-infrared emission. The extrapolated flux densities being considerably lower than the observed values, a significant nonthermal far-infrared component is unlikely in the case of 3C47 and 3C334. However, this component could be responsible for the far-infrared brightness of 3C207. Our analysis demonstrates that nonthermal emission cannot readily account for the difference between quasars and radio galaxies in the amount of their far-infrared luminosity. On the other hand, a significant role for this mechanism is likely; full sampling of the mm-submm spectral energy distributions is needed to address the issue quantitatively.

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