arXiv subjects

V. Vacca

Publications and source records attributed to V. Vacca.

54 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

The Sardinia Radio Telescope: From a Technological Project to a Radio Observatory

[Abridged] The Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) is the new 64-m dish operated by INAF (Italy). Its active surface will allow us to observe at frequencies of up to 116 GHz. At the moment, three receivers, one per focal position, have been installed and tested. The SRT was officially opened in October 2013, upon completion of its technical commissioning phase. In this paper, we provide an overview of the main science drivers for the SRT, describe the main outcomes from the scientific commissioning of the telescope, and discuss a set of observations demonstrating the SRT's scientific capabilities. One of the main objectives of scientific commissioning was the identification of deficiencies in the instrumentation and/or in the telescope sub-systems for further optimization. As a result, the overall telescope performance has been significantly improved. As part of the scientific commissioning activities, different observing modes were tested and validated, and first astronomical observations were carried out to demonstrate the science capabilities of the SRT. In addition, we developed astronomer-oriented software tools, to support future observers on-site. The astronomical validation activities were prioritized based on technical readiness and scientific impact. The highest priority was to make the SRT available for joint observations as part of European networks. As a result, the SRT started to participate (in shared-risk mode) in EVN (European VLBI Network) and LEAP (Large European Array for Pulsars) observing sessions in early 2014. The validation of single-dish operations for the suite of SRT first light receivers and backends continued in the following years, and was concluded with the first call for shared-risk/early-science observations issued at the end of 2015.

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arXiv2017

Sardinia Radio Telescope observations of Abell 194 - the intra-cluster magnetic field power spectrum

We study the intra-cluster magnetic field in the poor galaxy cluster Abell 194 by complementing radio data, at different frequencies, with data in the optical and X-ray bands. We analyze new total intensity and polarization observations of Abell 194 obtained with the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). We use the SRT data in combination with archival Very Large Array observations to derive both the spectral aging and Rotation Measure (RM) images of the radio galaxies 3C40A and 3C40B embedded in Abell 194. The optical analysis indicates that Abell 194 does not show a major and recent cluster merger, but rather agrees with a scenario of accretion of small groups. Under the minimum energy assumption, the lifetimes of synchrotron electrons in 3C40B measured from the spectral break are found to be 157 Myrs. The break frequency image and the electron density profile inferred from the X-ray emission are used in combination with the RM data to constrain the intra-cluster magnetic field power spectrum. By assuming a Kolmogorov power law power spectrum, we find that the RM data in Abell 194 are well described by a magnetic field with a maximum scale of fluctuations of Lambda_max=64 kpc and a central magnetic field strength of =1.5 microG. Further out, the field decreases with the radius following the gas density to the power of eta=1.1. Comparing Abell 194 with a small sample of galaxy clusters, there is a hint of a trend between central electron densities and magnetic field strengths.

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arXiv2016

Sardinia Radio Telescope wide-band spectral-polarimetric observations of the galaxy cluster 3C 129

We present new observations of the galaxy cluster 3C 129 obtained with the Sardinia Radio Telescope in the frequency range 6000-7200 MHz, with the aim to image the large-angular-scale emission at high-frequency of the radio sources located in this cluster of galaxies. The data were acquired using the recently-commissioned ROACH2-based backend to produce full-Stokes image cubes of an area of 1 deg x 1 deg centered on the radio source 3C 129. We modeled and deconvolved the telescope beam pattern from the data. We also measured the instrumental polarization beam patterns to correct the polarization images for off-axis instrumental polarization. Total intensity images at an angular resolution of 2.9 arcmin were obtained for the tailed radio galaxy 3C 129 and for 13 more sources in the field, including 3C 129.1 at the galaxy cluster center. These data were used, in combination with literature data at lower frequencies, to derive the variation of the synchrotron spectrum of 3C 129 along the tail of the radio source. If the magnetic field is at the equipartition value, we showed that the lifetimes of radiating electrons result in a radiative age for 3C 129 of t_syn = 267 +/- 26 Myrs. Assuming a linear projected length of 488 kpc for the tail, we deduced that 3C 129 is moving supersonically with a Mach number of M=v_gal/c_s=1.47. Linearly polarized emission was clearly detected for both 3C 129 and 3C 129.1. The linear polarization measured for 3C 129 reaches levels as high as 70% in the faintest region of the source where the magnetic field is aligned with the direction of the tail.

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arXiv2015

A multiwavelength view of the galaxy cluster Abell 523 and its peculiar diffuse radio source

We study the structure of the galaxy cluster Abell 523 (A523) at z=0.104 using new spectroscopic data for 132 galaxies acquired at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, new photometric data from the Isaac Newton Telescope, and X-ray and radio data from the Chandra and Very Large Array archives. We estimate the velocity dispersion of the galaxy population, sigmaV=949 km/s, and the X-ray temperature of the hot intracluster medium, kT=5.3 keV. We infer that A523 is a massive system: M200 about 7-9 x10E14 Msun. The analysis of the optical data confirms the presence of two subclusters, 0.75 Mpc apart, tracing the SSW-NNE direction and dominated by the two brightest cluster galaxies (BCG1 and BCG2). The X-ray surface brightness is strongly elongated towards the NNE direction, and its peak is clearly offset from both the BCGs. We confirm the presence of a 1.3 Mpc large radio halo, elongated in the ESE-WNW direction and perpendicular to the optical/X-ray elongation. We detect a significant radio/X-ray offset and radio polarization, two features which might be the result of a magnetic field energy spread on large spatial scales. A523 is found consistent with most scaling relations followed by clusters hosting radio haloes, but quite peculiar in the Pradio-LX relation: it is underluminous in the X-rays or overluminous in radio. A523 can be described as a binary head--on merger caught after a collision along the SSW-NNE direction. However, minor optical and radio features suggest a more complex cluster structure, with A523 forming at the crossing of two filaments along the SSW-NNE and ESE-WNW directions.

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arXiv2015

Using rotation measure grids to detect cosmological magnetic fields -- a Bayesian approach

Determining magnetic field properties in different environments of the cosmic large-scale structure as well as their evolution over redshift is a fundamental step toward uncovering the origin of cosmic magnetic fields. Radio observations permit the study of extragalactic magnetic fields via measurements of the Faraday depth of extragalactic radio sources. Our aim is to investigate how much different extragalactic environments contribute to the Faraday depth variance of these sources. We develop a Bayesian algorithm to distinguish statistically Faraday depth variance contributions intrinsic to the source from those due to the medium between the source and the observer. In our algorithm the Galactic foreground and the measurement noise are taken into account as the uncertainty correlations of the galactic model. Additionally, our algorithm allows for the investigation of possible redshift evolution of the extragalactic contribution. This work presents the derivation of the algorithm and tests performed on mock observations. With cosmic magnetism being one of the key science projects of the new generation of radio interferometers we have made predictions for the algorithm's performance on data from the next generation of radio interferometers. Applications to real data are left for future work.

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arXiv2015

Cluster magnetic fields through the study of polarized radio halos in the SKA era

Galaxy clusters are unique laboratories to investigate turbulent fluid motions and large scale magnetic fields. Synchrotron radio halos at the center of merging galaxy clusters provide the most spectacular and direct evidence of the presence of relativistic particles and magnetic fields associated with the intracluster medium. The study of polarized emission from radio halos is extremely important to constrain the properties of intracluster magnetic fields and the physics of the acceleration and transport of the relativistic particles. However, detecting this polarized signal is a very hard task with the current radio facilities.We use cosmological magneto-hydrodynamical simulations to predict the expected polarized surface brightness of radio halos at 1.4 GHz. We compare these expectations with the sensitivity and the resolution reachable with the SKA1. This allows us to evaluate the potential for studying intracluster magnetic fields in the surveys planned for SKA1.

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arXiv2015

Unravelling the origin of large-scale magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and beyond through Faraday Rotation Measures with the SKA

We investigate the possibility for the SKA to detect and study the magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and in the less dense environments surrounding them using Faraday Rotation Measures. To this end, we produce 3-dimensional magnetic field models for galaxy clusters of different masses and in different stages of their evolution, and derive mock rotation measure observations of background radiogalaxies. According to our results, already in phase I, we will be able to infer the magnetic field properties in galaxy clusters as a function of the cluster mass, down to $10^{13}$ solar-masses. Moreover, using cosmological simulations to model the gas density, we have computed the expected rotation measure through shock-fronts that occur in the intra-cluster medium during cluster mergers. The enhancement in the rotation measure due to the density jump will permit to constraint the magnetic field strength and structure after the shock passage. SKA observations of polarised sources located behind galaxy clusters will answer several questions about the magnetic field strength and structure in galaxy clusters, and its evolution with cosmic time.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

The spectral index image of the radio halo in the cluster Abell 520 hosting a famous bow shock

Synchrotron radio emission is being detected from an increasing number of galaxy clusters. Spectral index images are a powerful tool to investigate the origin, nature, and connection of these sources with the dynamical state of the cluster. The aim of this work is to investigate the spectral index distribution of the radio halo in the galaxy cluster A520, a complex system from an optical, radio, and X-ray point of view. We present deep Very Large Array observations in total intensity at 325 and 1400 MHz. We produced and analyzed spectral index images of the radio halo in this frequency range at a resolution of 39" and 60" and looked for possible correlations with the thermal properties of the cluster. We find an integrated radio halo spectral index alpha(325-1400) ~ 1.12. No strong radial steepening is present and the spectral index distribution is intrinsically complex with fluctuations only partially due to measurement errors. The radio halo integrated spectral index and the cluster temperature follow the global trend observed in other galaxy clusters although a strong point-to-point correlation between the spectral index and the thermal gas temperature has not been observed. The complex morphology in the spectral index image of the radio halo in A520 is in agreement with the primary models for radio halo formation. The flatness of the radial profile suggests that the merger is still ongoing and is uniformly and continuously (re-) accelerating the population of relativistic electrons responsible of the radio emission even at large (~ 1 Mpc) distances from the cluster center.

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arXiv2013

The nature of the giant diffuse non-thermal source in the A3411-A3412 complex

VLA deep radio images at 1.4 GHz in total intensity and polarization reveal a diffuse non-thermal source in the interacting clusters A3411 - A3412. Moreover a small-size low power radio halo at the center of the merging cluster A3411 is found. We present here new optical and X-ray data and discuss the nature and properties of the diffuse non-thermal source. We suggest that the giant diffuse radio source is related to the presence of a large scale filamentary structure and to multiple mergers in the A3411-A3412 complex.

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arXiv2013

Polarization of cluster radio halos with upcoming radio interferometers

Synchrotron radio halos at the center of merging galaxy clusters provide the most spectacular and direct evidence of the presence of relativistic particles and magnetic fields associated with the intracluster medium. The study of polarized emission from radio halos has been shown to be extremely important to constrain the properties of intracluster magnetic fields. However, detecting this polarized signal is a very hard task with the current radio facilities.We investigate whether future radio observatories, such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and its precursors and pathfinders, will be able to detect the polarized emission of radio halos in galaxy clusters.On the basis of cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations with initial magnetic fields injected by active galactic nuclei, we predict the expected radio halo polarized signal at 1.4 GHz. We compare these expectations with the limits of current radio facilities and explore the potential of the forthcoming radio interferometers to investigate intracluster magnetic fields through the detection of polarized emission from radio halos.The resolution and sensitivity values that are expected to be obtained in future sky surveys performed at 1.4 GHz using the SKA precursors and pathfinders (like APERTIF and ASKAP) are very promising for the detection of the polarized emission of the most powerful (L1.4GHz>10e25 Watt/Hz) radio halos. Furthermore, the JVLA have the potential to already detect polarized emission from strong radio halos, at a relatively low resolution.However, the possibility of detecting the polarized signal in fainter radio halos (L1.4GHz~10e24 Watt/Hz) at high resolution requires a sensitivity reachable only with SKA.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Detection of diffuse radio emission in the galaxy clusters A800, A910, A1550, and CL1446+26

Radio halos are elusive sources located at the center of merging galaxy clusters. To date, only about 40 radio halos are known, thus the discovery of new halos provide important insights on this class of sources. To improve the statistics of radio halos, we investigated the radio continuum emission in a sample of galaxy clusters. We analyzed archival Very Large Array observations at 1.4 GHz, with a resolution of about 1 arcmin. These observations complemented by X-ray, optical, and higher resolution radio data allowed to detect a new radio halo in the central region of A800 and A1550. We discovered a radio relic in the periphery of A910, and finally we revealed both a halo and a relic in CL1446+26.Clusters hosting these new halos show an offset between the radio and the X-ray peak. By analyzing this offset statistically we found that radio halos can be quite asymmetric with respect to the X-ray gas distribution, with an average radio - X-ray displacement of about 180 kpc. When the offsets are normalized by the halo size, there is a tendency for smaller halos to show larger displacements.

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arXiv2012

The intracluster magnetic field power spectrum in A2199

We investigate the magnetic field power spectrum in the cool core galaxy cluster A2199 by analyzing the polarized emission of the central radio source 3C338. The polarized radiation from the radio emitting plasma is modified by the Faraday rotation as it passes through the magneto-ionic intracluster medium. We use Very Large Array observations between 1665 and 8415 MHz to produce detailed Faraday rotation measure and fractional polarization images of the radio galaxy. We simulate Gaussian random three-dimensional magnetic field models with different power-law power spectra and we assume that the field strength decreases radially with the thermal gas density as n_e^η. By comparing the synthetic and the observed images with a Bayesian approach, we constrain the strength and structure of the magnetic field associated with the intracluster medium. We find that the Faraday rotation toward 3C338 in A2199 is consistent with a magnetic field power law power spectrum characterized by an index n=(2.8 \pm 1.3) between a maximum and a minimum scale of fluctuation of Λ_{max}=(35 \pm 28) kpc and Λ_{min}=(0.7 \pm 0.1) kpc, respectively. By including in the modeling X-ray cavities coincident with the radio galaxy lobes, we find a magnetic field strength of =(11.7 \pm 9.0) μG at the cluster center. Further out, the field decreases with the radius following the gas density to the power of η=(0.9 \pm 0.5).

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arXiv2011

Discovery of diffuse emission in the galaxy cluster A1689

The aim of this work is to investigate the possible presence of extended diffuse synchrotron radio emission associated with the intracluster medium of the complex galaxy cluster A1689. The radio continuum emission of A1689 has been investigated by analyzing archival observations at 1.2 and 1.4 GHz obtained with the Very Large Array in different configurations. We report the detection of an extended, diffuse, low-surface brightness radio emission located in the central region of A1689. The surface brightness profile of the diffuse emission at 1.2 GHz indicates a central radio brightness of ~1.7 μJy/arcsec^2 and the 3σradio isophothes reveal the largest linear size to be 730 kpc. Given its central location, the low-level surface brightness, and the comparatively large extension, we classify the diffuse cluster-wide emission in A1689 as a small radio halo.

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arXiv2011

A giant radio halo in the low luminosity X-ray cluster Abell 523

Radio halos are extended and diffuse non-thermal radio sources present at the cluster center, not obviously associated with any individual galaxy. A strong correlation has been found between the cluster X-ray luminosity and the halo radio power. We observe and analyze the diffuse radio emission present in the complex merging structure Abell 523, classified as a low luminosity X-ray cluster, to discuss its properties in the context of the halo total radio power versus X-ray luminosity correlation. We reduced VLA archive observations at 1.4 GHz to derive a deep radio image of the diffuse emission, and compared radio, optical, and X-ray data. Low-resolution VLA images detect a giant radio halo associated with a complex merging region. The properties of this new halo agree with those of radio halos in general discussed in the literature, but its radio power is about a factor of ten higher than expected on the basis of the cluster X-ray luminosity. Our study of this giant radio source demonstrates that radio halos can also be present in clusters with a low X-ray luminosity. Only a few similar cases have so far been found . This result suggests that this source represent a new class of objects, that cannot be explained by classical radio halo models. We suggest that the particle reacceleration related to merging processes is very efficient and/or the X-ray luminosity is not a good indicator of the past merging activity of a cluster.

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arXiv2011

The large-scale diffuse radio emission in A781

A781 belongs to a complex system characterized by extended X-ray emissions that may form part of line of clusters of galaxies along a filament. The aim of this work is to investigate the possible presence of extended, diffuse synchrotron radio emission connected to the intra-cluster medium of A781. We studied the radio continuum emission and the spectral index properties in proximity of the A781 by analyzing archival Very Large Array observations at 1400 and 325 MHz. The main cluster of the system is permeated by diffuse low-surface brightness radio emission which is classified, being located close to the center, as a radio halo. The diffuse emission presents the typical extension and radio power of the other halos known in the literature. Interestingly, the radio halo appears to be linked to a peripheral patch previously found in the literature. The spectrum of this peripheral emission shows a radial steepening which may confirm that this source is indeed a cluster relic.

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arXiv2010

Galaxy cluster magnetic fields from radio polarized emission

The presence of magnetic fields in the intra-cluster medium of galaxy clusters is now well estabilished. It is directly revealed by the presence of cluster-wide radio sources: radio halos and radio relics. In the last years increasing attention has been devoted to the intra cluster magnetic field through the study of polarized radio emission of radio galaxies, radio halos and radio relics. Recent radio observations have revealed important features of the intra-cluster magnetic field, allowing us to constrain its main properties and to understand the physical processes taking place in the intra-cluster medium. I will review the newest results on galaxy cluster magnetic fields, both focusing on single objects and aimed at describing the magnetic field general properties. The up-coming generation of radio telescopes, EVLA and LOFAR, will shed light on several problematics regarding the cluster magnetic fields and the related non-thermal emission.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Rotation Measures of Radio Sources in Hot Galaxy Clusters

The goal of this work is to investigate the Faraday rotation measure (RM) of radio galaxies in hot galaxy clusters in order to establish a possible connection between the magnetic field strength and the gas temperature of the intracluster medium. We performed Very Large Array observations at 3.6 cm and 6 cm of two radio galaxies located in A401 and Ophiuchus, a radio galaxy in A2142, and a radio galaxy located in the background of A2065. All these galaxy clusters are characterized by high temperatures. We obtained detailed RM images at an angular resolution of 3'' for most of the observed radio galaxies. The RM images are patchy and reveal fine substructures of a few kpc in size. Under the assumption that the radio galaxies themselves have no effect on the measured RMs, these structures indicate that the intracluster magnetic fields fluctuate down to such small scales. These new data are compared with RM information present in the literature for cooler galaxy clusters. For a fixed projected distance from the cluster center, clusters with higher temperature show a higher dispersion of the RM distributions (sigmaRM), mostly because of the higher gas density in these clusters. Although the previously known relation between the clusters X-ray surface brightness (Sx) at the radio galaxy location and sigmaRM is confirmed, a possible connection between the sigmaRM-Sx relation and the cluster temperature, if present, is very weak. Therefore, in view of the current data, it is impossible to establish a strict link between the magnetic field strength and the gas temperature of the intracluster medium.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The intracluster magnetic field power spectrum in Abell 665

The goal of this work is to investigate the power spectrum of the magnetic field associated with the giant radio halo in the galaxy cluster A665. For this, we present new deep Very Large Array total intensity and polarization observations at 1.4 GHz. We simulated Gaussian random three-dimensional turbulent magnetic field models to reproduce the observed radio halo emission. By comparing observed and synthetic radio halo images we constrained the strength and structure of the intracluster magnetic field. We assumed that the magnetic field power spectrum is a power law with a Kolmogorov index and we imposed a local equipartition of energy density between relativistic particles and field. Under these assumptions, we find that the radio halo emission in A665 is consistent with a central magnetic field strength of about 1.3 micro-G. To explain the azimuthally averaged radio brightness profile, the magnetic field energy density should decrease following the thermal gas density, leading to an averaged magnetic field strength over the central 1 Mpc^3 of about 0.75 micro-G. From the observed brightness fluctuations of the radio halo, we infer that the outer scale of the magnetic field power spectrum is ~450 kpc, and the corresponding magnetic field auto-correlation length is ~100 kpc.

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