arXiv subjects

Vanessa A. Moss

Publications and source records attributed to Vanessa A. Moss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A FLASH HI absorption search in compact sources in the pilot ASKAP interplanetary scintillation field

In this pilot study, we use data from the First Large Absorption Survey in HI (FLASH) to search for redshifted HI 21cm absorption at $0.4<z<1$ towards 157 bright radio sources with Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) measurements at 820MHz in a single field observed with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope. The ASKAP IPS measurements, which use only 2.5 minutes of observing time in total, allow us to estimate the compactness of these radio sources on sub-arcsecond scales at a frequency within the 712-1000MHz FLASH band. In particular, the Normalised Scintillation Index (NSI) for each source reflects the fraction of the flux density arising from compact components less than 0.1 arcsec in diameter. We find that $18\pm5$% of ASKAP sources with flux densities above 150mJy are highly compact with NSI $\geq0.8$ - implying that at least 80% of their radio emission arises from a single region smaller than about 800pc in size. The compactness of these sources makes them ideal probes for an HI absorption search, since the covering factor for any HI gas clouds along the line of sight is likely to be high. About half of the sources with NSI $\geq0.8$ also have peaked radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs), consistent with previous IPS studies at lower frequencies. These pilot results imply that IPS measurements with ASKAP can provide a simple and powerful tool for identifying uniform samples of compact radio sources at frequencies of a few hundred MHz across large areas of sky. With FLASH, we detect two new HI absorption lines against compact sources in the $\sim30$deg$^2$ region of sky covered by the IPS data; an associated HI line at redshift $z=0.9540$ (with a matching optical redshift) in MRC 2125-237 (NSI = 0.98), and a likely intervening line at $z=0.4632$ towards MRC 2131-241 (NSI = 0.84).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey VII: Spectra and Polarisation In Cutouts of Extragalactic Sources (SPICE-RACS) Second Data Release -- Unveiling the Magnetised Sky

We present the second data release (DR2) of Spectra and Polarisation in Cutouts of Extragalactic sources from RACS (SPICE-RACS). SPICE-RACS DR2 is derived from the third low-band epoch of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS-low3) and covers the entire sky from the South celestial pole up to a declination of $+49^\circ$; approximately 87.5% of the celestial sphere. We produce 'cutout' spectral cubes in Stokes $I$, $Q$, $U$ around 4 million radio sources and extract spectra towards 5 million radio components. Across our observed band of 799.5--1087.5 MHz we find an $rms$ noise of $\sim200μ\mathrm{Jy/PSF}$, an angular resolution of $\sim15''$, and residual wide-field instrumental polarisation on the order of 0.1%. After de-duplication, our polarisation catalogue contains the detection of $2.5\times10^5$ ($3.4\times10^5$) Faraday rotation measures (RM) for components with a linearly polarised signal above $8σ$ ($6σ$). This places SPICE-RACS DR2 as the largest single RM catalogue ever produced by nearly an order of magnitude; the number of RMs in our catalogue alone is $\sim5$ times larger than every previous RM catalogue combined. Our resulting RM grid has an areal density of $6.7^{+1.8}_{-1.7}\mathrm{deg}^{-2}$, providing an effective 'resolution' of $\sim23'$, and reveals striking features across the sky. The broad-band RMs have a median uncertainty of $\sim2\ \mathrm{rad\ m}^{-2}$, and include complexity metrics and information from the time domain. The breadth and quality of the SPICE-RACS DR2 dataset will enable a new generation of RM science. Further, SPICE-RACS will provide an ideal reference for forthcoming deep polarisation surveys such as the ASKAP POSSUM survey. All of our data products are publicly available on the CSIRO Data Access Portal (DAP) and the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

The life of central radio galaxies in clusters: AGN-ICM studies of eRASS1 clusters in the ASKAP fields

The mechanical feedback from the central AGNs can be crucial for balancing the radiative cooling of the intracluster medium at the cluster centre. We aim to understand the relationship between the power of AGN feedback and the cooling of gas in the centres of galaxy clusters by correlating the radio properties of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) with the X-ray properties of their host clusters. We used catalogues from the first SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey (eRASS1) along with ASKAP radio data. In total, we identified 134 radio sources associated with BCGs of the 151 eRASS1 clusters located in the PS1, PS2, and SWAG-X ASKAP fields. Non-detections were treated as upper limits. We correlated BCG radio luminosity, largest linear size (LLS), and BCG offset with the integrated X-ray luminosity of their host clusters. To characterise cool cores (CCs) and non-cool cores (NCCs), we used the concentration parameter $c_{R_{500}}$ and combined it with the BCG offset to assess cluster dynamical state. We analysed the correlation between radio mechanical power and X-ray luminosity within the CC subsample. We observe a potential positive trend between LLS and BCG offset, suggesting an environmental effect on radio-source morphology. We find a weak trend where more luminous central radio galaxies are found in clusters with higher X-ray luminosity. Within the CC subsample, there is a positive but highly scattered relationship between the mechanical luminosity of AGN jets and the X-ray cooling luminosity. This finding is supported by bootstrap resampling and flux-flux analyses. The correlation indicates that AGN feedback is ineffective in high-luminosity (high-mass) clusters. At a cooling luminosity of $L_{\mathrm{X},~r<R_\mathrm{cool}}\approx 5.50\times10^{43}$ erg/s, on average, AGN feedback appears to contribute only about 13%-22% of the energy needed to offset the radiative losses in the ICM.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

VLBI studies of FLASH H I 21-cm absorbers -- I

We have conducted VLBA 1.4 GHz (L-band) continuum observations towards twelve sources with HI 21-cm absorption detections at redshift $0.4<z<0.7$ in the pilot surveys of FLASH, an ongoing survey with the ASKAP radio telescope. 11 of the 12 targets are resolved in the VLBA observations. Using the parsec scale radio images, we have classified the source morphology and identified the radio core. Six of the twelve targets have core-jet morphology, four have two-sided jet morphology, one has a complex morphology, and one is unresolved. We describe a methodology to test whether the emission from the core or the total emission detected in the VLBA image has sufficient flux density to cause the entire HI 21-cm absorption, and we estimate limits on the gas covering factor and velocity-integrated optical depth (VOD). We find that for seven of the twelve sources, the core has sufficient flux density to cause all the HI 21-cm absorption detected in the ASKAP spectrum. For three other targets, with projected sizes in the range $\rm 305-409 \ pc$, a large fraction of the entire emission in the VLBA map could be occulted by the gas. For 0903+010 (NVSS J090331+010846), we estimate that at least $\approx 73\%$ of the peak absorption detected in the ASKAP spectrum could arise against the emission detected in the VLBA image. For the target 0023+010 (NVSS J002331+010114), we estimate an upper limit on the VOD of $\rm 169 \ km \ s^{-1}$, the highest in our sample. For 0903+010 (NVSS J090331+010846) we estimate a lower limit of $\rm 104 \ km \ s^{-1}$ on the VOD. We find that the distribution of HI 21-cm VODs at $0.4<z<1.0$ could increase by up to a factor of three after correction for the covering factors using our VLBA measurements.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The First Large Absorption Survey in HI (FLASH): II. Pilot Survey data release and first results

The First Large Absorption Survey in HI (FLASH) is a large-area radio survey for neutral hydrogen in the redshift range 0.4 1$, and appear to be a mixture of intervening and associated systems. Interestingly, around two-thirds of the lines found in this untargeted sample are detected against sources with a peaked-spectrum radio continuum, which are only a minor (5-20%) fraction of the overall radio-source population. The overall detection rate for HI absorption lines in the Pilot Surveys (0.3 to 0.5 lines per ASKAP field) is a factor of two below the expected value. One possible reason for this is the presence of a range of spectral-line artefacts in the Pilot Survey data that have now been mitigated and are not expected to recur in the full FLASH survey. A future paper will discuss the host galaxies of the HI absorption systems identified here.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Photometry and kinematics of dwarf galaxies from the Apertif HI survey

Context. Understanding the dwarf galaxy population in low density environments is crucial for testing the LCDM cosmological model. The increase in diversity towards low mass galaxies is seen as an increase in the scatter of scaling relations such as the stellar mass-size and the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR), and is also demonstrated by recent in-depth studies of an extreme subclass of dwarf galaxies of low surface brightness, but large physical sizes, called ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). Aims. We select galaxies from the Apertif HI survey, and apply a constraint on their i-band absolute magnitude to exclude high mass systems. The sample consists of 24 galaxies, and span HI mass ranges of 8.6 < log ($M_{HI}/M_{Sun}$) < 9.7 and stellar mass range of 8.0 < log ($M_*/M_{Sun}$) < 9.7 (with only three galaxies having log ($M_*/M_{Sun}$) > 9). Methods. We determine the geometrical parameters of the HI and stellar discs, build kinematic models from the HI data using 3DBarolo, and extract surface brightness profiles in g-, r- and i-band from the Pan-STARRS 1 photometric survey. Results. We find that, at fixed stellar mass, our HI selected dwarfs have larger optical effective radii than isolated, optically-selected dwarfs from the literature. We find misalignments between the optical and HI morphologies for some of our sample. For most of our galaxies, we use the HI morphology to determine their kinematics, and we stress that deep optical observations are needed to trace the underlying stellar discs. Standard dwarfs in our sample follow the same BTFR of high-mass galaxies, whereas UDGs are slightly offset towards lower rotational velocities, in qualitative agreement with results from previous studies. Finally, our sample features a fraction (25%) of dwarf galaxies in pairs that is significantly larger with respect to previous estimates based on optical spectroscopic data.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Why so young? A curious connection between the broadband flux and neutral gas content of AGN

We present here a study of the broadband spectral properties of 33 sources detected in HI absorption as part of the ASKAP-FLASH Pilot Surveys. We outline our approach to spectral classification and discuss the correlation seen between spectral shape and the detection of HI absorption. We further consider the implications of the observed correlation on the spatial distribution of the neutral gas, and on the jet-gas interactions. Our results are evaluated in the context of the forthcoming, full ASKAP-FLASH survey and other large, untargeted searches of the radio sky.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

RadioSED I: Bayesian inference of radio SEDs from inhomogeneous surveys

We present here RadioSED, a Bayesian inference framework tailored to modelling and classifying broadband radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using only data from publicly-released, large-area surveys. We outline the functionality of RadioSED, with its focus on broadband radio emissions which can trace kiloparsec-scale absorption within both the radio jets and the circumgalactic medium of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). In particular, we discuss the capability of RadioSED to advance our understanding of AGN physics and composition within youngest and most compact sources, for which high resolution imaging is often unavailable. These young radio AGN typically manifest as peaked spectrum (PS) sources which, before RadioSED, were difficult to identify owing to the large, broadband frequency coverage typically required, and yet they provide an invaluable environment for understanding AGN evolution and feedback. We discuss the implementation details of RadioSED, and we validate our approach against both synthetic and observational data. Since the surveys used are drawn from multiple epochs of observation, we also consider the output from RadioSED in the context of AGN variability. Finally, we show that RadioSED recovers the expected SED shapes for a selection of well-characterised radio sources from the literature, and we discuss avenues for further study of these and other sources using radio SED fitting as a starting point. The scalability and modularity of this framework make it an exciting tool for multiwavelength astronomers as next-generation telescopes begin several all-sky surveys. Accordingly, we make the code for RadioSED, which is written in Python, available on Github.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Radio afterglows from tidal disruption events: An unbiased sample from ASKAP RACS

Late-time ($\sim$ year) radio follow-up of optically-discovered tidal disruption events (TDEs) is increasingly resulting in detections at radio wavelengths, and there is growing evidence for this late-time radio activity to be common to the broad class of sub-relativistic TDEs. Detailed studies of some of these TDEs at radio wavelengths are also challenging the existing models for radio emission. Using all-sky multi-epoch data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), taken as a part of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS), we searched for radio counterparts to a sample of optically-discovered TDEs. We detected late-time emission at RACS frequencies (742-1032\,MHz) in five TDEs, reporting the independent discovery of radio emission from TDE AT2019ahk and extending the time baseline out to almost 3000\,days for some events. Overall, we find that at least $22^{+15}_{-11}$\% of the population of optically-discovered TDEs has detectable radio emission in the RACS survey, while also noting that the true fraction can be higher given the limited cadence (2 epochs separated by $\sim 3\,$ years) of the survey. Finally, we project that the ongoing higher-cadence ($\sim 2$\,months) ASKAP Variable and Slow Transients (VAST) survey can detect $\sim 20$ TDEs in its operational span (4\,yrs), given the current rate from optical surveys.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The Metallicities of Five Small High-Velocity Clouds

High-velocity clouds (HVCs) are multi-phase gas structures whose velocities (|v_LSR|>100 km/s) are too high to be explained by Galactic disk rotation. While large HVCs are well characterized, compact and small HVCs (with HI angular sizes of a few degrees) are poorly understood. Possible origins for such small clouds include Milky Way halo gas or fragments of the Magellanic System, but neither their origin nor their connection to the Milky Way halo has been confirmed. We use new Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph UV spectra and Green Bank Telescope HI spectra to measure the metallicities of five small HVCs in the southern Galactic sky projected near the Magellanic System. We build a set of distance-dependent Cloudy photoionization models for each cloud and calculate their ionization-corrected metallicities. All five small HVCs have oxygen metallicities <0.17 Z_sun, indicating they do not originate in the disk of the Milky Way. Two of the five have metallicities of 0.16-0.17 Z_sun, similar to the Magellanic Stream, suggesting these clouds are fragments of the Magellanic System. The remaining three clouds have much lower metallicities of 0.02-0.04 Z_sun. While the origin of these low-metallicity clouds is unclear, they could be gaseous mini-halos or gas stripped from dwarf galaxies by ram pressure or tidal interactions. These results suggest that small HVCs do not all reside in the inner Milky Way halo or the Magellanic System, but instead can trace more distant structures.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

The FLASH pilot survey: an HI absorption search against MRC 1-Jy radio sources

We report an ASKAP search for associated HI 21-cm absorption against bright radio sources from the Molonglo Reference Catalogue (MRC) 1-Jy sample. The search uses pilot survey data from the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in \hi (FLASH) covering the redshift range $0.42 < z < 1.00$. From a sample of 62 MRC 1-Jy radio galaxies and quasars in this redshift range we report three new detections of associated HI 21-cm absorption, yielding an overall detection fraction of $1.8\%^{+4.0\%}_{-1.5\%}$. The detected systems comprise two radio galaxies (MRC 2216$-$281 at $z=0.657$ and MRC 0531$-$237 at $z=0.851$) and one quasar (MRC 2156$-$245 at $z=0.862$). The MRC 0531$-$237 absorption system is the strongest found to date, with a velocity integrated optical depth of $\rm 143.8 \pm 0.4 \ km \ s^{-1}$. All three objects with detected HI 21-cm absorption are peaked-spectrum or compact steep-spectrum (CSS) radio sources, classified based on our SED fits to the spectra. Two of them show strong interplanetary scintillation at 162 MHz, implying that the radio continuum source is smaller than 1 arcsec in size even at low frequencies. Among the class of peaked-spectrum and compact steep-spectrum radio sources, the HI detection fraction is $23\%^{+22\%}_{-13\%}$. This is consistent within $1σ$ with a detection fraction of $\approx 42\%^{+21\%}_{-15\%}$ in earlier reported GPS and CSS samples at intermediate redshifts ($0.4 < z < 1.0$). All three detections have a high 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, with MRC 0531$-$237 and MRC 2216$-$281 having the highest values in the sample, $\rm > 27.5 \ W \ Hz^{-1}$. The preponderance of extended radio sources in our sample could partially explain the overall low detection fraction, while the effects of a redshift evolution in gas properties and AGN UV luminosity on the neutral gas absorption still need to be investigated.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Characterizing Pulsars Detected in the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey

We present the detection of 661 known pulsars observed with the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope at 888 MHz as a part of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS). Detections were made through astrometric coincidence and we estimate the false alarm rate of our sample to be ~0.5%. Using archival data at 400 and 1400 MHz, we estimate the power law spectral indices for the pulsars in our sample and find that the mean spectral index is -1.78 +/- 0.6. However, we also find that a single power law is inadequate to model all the observed spectra. With the addition of the flux densities between 150 MHz and 3 GHz from various imaging surveys, we find that up to 40% of our sample shows deviations from a simple power law model. Using Stokes V measurements from the RACS data, we measured the circular polarization fraction for 9% of our sample and find that the mean polarization fraction is ~10% (consistent between detections and upper limits). Using the dispersion measure (DM) derived distance we estimate the pseudo luminosity of the pulsars and do not find any strong evidence for a correlation with the pulsars' intrinsic properties.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey III: Spectra and Polarisation In Cutouts of Extragalactic Sources (SPICE-RACS) First Data Release

The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope has carried out a survey of the entire Southern Sky at 887.5MHz. The wide area, high angular resolution, and broad bandwidth provided by the low-band Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS-low) allow the production of a next-generation rotation measure (RM) grid across the entire Southern Sky. Here we introduce this project as Spectral and Polarisation in Cutouts of Extragalactic sources from RACS (SPICE-RACS). In our first data release, we image 30 RACS-low fields in Stokes $I$, $Q$, $U$ at 25'' angular resolution, across 744 to 1032MHz with 1MHz spectral resolution. Using a bespoke, highly parallelised, software pipeline we are able to rapidly process wide-area spectro-polarimetric ASKAP observations. Notably, we use 'postage stamp' cutouts to assess the polarisation properties of \ncomponents\ radio components detected in total intensity. We find that our Stokes $Q$ and $U$ images have an rms noise of ~80$μ$Jy/PSF, and our correction for instrumental polarisation leakage allows us to characterise components with >1% polarisation fraction over most of the field of view. We produce a broadband polarised radio component catalogue that contains \nrms\ RM measurements over an area of ~1300deg^2 with an average error in RM of 1.6+1.1-1.0rad/m^2, and an average linear polarisation fraction 3.4+3.0-1.6%. We determine this subset of components using the conditions that the polarised signal-to-noise ratio is $>8$, the polarisation fraction is above our estimated polarised leakage, and the Stokes $I$ spectrum has a reliable model. Our catalogue provides an areal density of $4\pm2$ RMs/deg^2; an increase of $\sim4$ times over the previous state-of-the-art (Taylor et al. 2009). Meaning that, having used just 3% of the RACS-low sky area, we have produced the 3rd largest RM catalogue to date. This catalogue has broad applications for studying...

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Detection of radio emission from stars via proper-motion searches

We present a method for identifying radio stellar sources using their proper-motion. We demonstrate this method using the FIRST, VLASS, RACS-low and RACS-mid radio surveys, and astrometric information from Gaia Data Release 3. We find eight stellar radio sources using this method, two of which have not previously been identified in the literature as radio stars. We determine that this method probes distances of ~90pc when we use FIRST and RACS-mid, and ~250pc when we use FIRST and VLASS. We investigate the time baselines required by current and future radio sky surveys to detect the eight sources we found, with the SKA (6.7 GHz) requiring <3 years between observations to find all eight sources. We also identify nine previously known and 43 candidate variable radio stellar sources that are detected in FIRST (1.4 GHz) but are not detected in RACS-mid (1.37 GHz). This shows that many stellar radio sources are variable, and that surveys with multiple epochs can detect a more complete sample of stellar radio sources.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Driving action on the climate crisis through Astronomers for Planet Earth and beyond

While an astronomer's job is typically to look out from Earth, the seriousness of the climate crisis has meant a shift in many astronomers' focus. Astronomers are starting to consider how our resource requirements may contribute to this crisis and how we may better conduct our research in a more environmentally sustainable fashion. Astronomers for Planet Earth is an international organisation (more than 1,700 members from over 70 countries as of November 2022) that seeks to answer the call for sustainability to be at the heart of astronomers' practices. In this article, we review the organisation's history, summarising the proactive, collaborative efforts and research into astronomy sustainability conducted by its members. We update the state of affairs with respect to the carbon footprint of astronomy research, noting an improvement in renewable energy powering supercomputing facilities in Australia, reducing that component of our footprint by a factor of 2--3. We discuss how, despite accelerated changes made throughout the pandemic, we still must address the format of our meetings. Using recent annual meetings of the Australian and European astronomical societies as examples, we demonstrate that the more online-focussed a meeting is, the greater its attendance and the lower its emissions.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Does a radio jet drive the massive multi-phase outflow in the ultra-luminous infrared galaxy IRAS 10565+2448?

We present new upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) HI 21-cm observations of the ultra-luminous infrared galaxy IRAS 10565+2448, previously reported to show blueshifted, broad, and shallow HI absorption indicating an outflow. Our higher spatial resolution observations have localised this blueshifted outflow, which is $\sim$ 1.36 kpc southwest of the radio centre and has a blueshifted velocity of $\sim 148\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$ and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of $\sim 581\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$. The spatial extent and kinematic properties of the HI outflow are consistent with the previously detected cold molecular outflows in IRAS 10565+2448, suggesting that they likely have the same driving mechanism and are tracing the same outflow. By combining the multi-phase gas observations, we estimate a total outflowing mass rate of at least $140\, \rm M_\odot \,yr^{-1}$ and a total energy loss rate of at least $8.9\times10^{42}\,\rm erg\,s^{-1}$, where the contribution from the ionised outflow is negligible, emphasising the importance of including both cold neutral and molecular gas when quantifying the impact of outflows. We present evidence of the presence of a radio jet and argue that this may play a role in driving the observed outflows. The modest radio luminosity $L_{\rm1.4GHz}$ $\sim1.3\times10^{23}\,{\rm W\,Hz^{-1}}$ of the jet in IRAS 10565+2448 implies that the jet contribution to driving outflows should not be ignored in low radio luminosity AGN.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

The Apertif Radio Transient System (ARTS): Design, Commissioning, Data Release, and Detection of the first 5 Fast Radio Bursts

Fast Radio Bursts must be powered by uniquely energetic emission mechanisms. This requirement has eliminated a number of possible source types, but several remain. Identifying the physical nature of Fast Radio Burst (FRB) emitters arguably requires good localisation of more detections, and broadband studies enabled by real-time alerting. We here present the Apertif Radio Transient System (ARTS), a supercomputing radio-telescope instrument that performs real-time FRB detection and localisation on the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) interferometer. It reaches coherent-addition sensitivity over the entire field of the view of the primary dish beam. After commissioning results verified the system performed as planned, we initiated the Apertif FRB survey (ALERT). Over the first 5 weeks we observed at design sensitivity in 2019, we detected 5 new FRBs, and interferometrically localised each of these to 0.4--10 sq. arcmin. All detections are broad band and very narrow, of order 1 ms duration, and unscattered. Dispersion measures are generally high. Only through the very high time and frequency resolution of ARTS are these hard-to-find FRBs detected, producing an unbiased view of the intrinsic population properties. Most localisation regions are small enough to rule out the presence of associated persistent radio sources. Three FRBs cut through the halos of M31 and M33. We demonstrate that Apertif can localise one-off FRBs with an accuracy that maps magneto-ionic material along well-defined lines of sight. The rate of 1 every ~7 days next ensures a considerable number of new sources are detected for such study. The combination of detection rate and localisation accuracy exemplified by the 5 first ARTS FRBs thus marks a new phase in which a growing number of bursts can be used to probe our Universe.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

FLASH Pilot Survey: Detections of associated 21 cm HI absorption in GAMA galaxies at 0.42 < z <1.00

We present the results of a search for associated 21 cm HI absorption at redshift 0.42 < z < 1.00 in radio-loud galaxies from three Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey fields. These observations were carried out as part of a pilot survey for the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in HI (FLASH). From a sample of 326 radio sources with 855.5 MHz peak flux density above 10 mJy we detected two associated HI absorption systems, in SDSS J090331+010847 at z= 0.522 and SDSS J113622+004852 at z= 0.563. Both galaxies are massive (stellar mass > 10$^{11}$ M$_{sun}$) and have optical spectra characteristic of luminous red galaxies,though SED fitting implies that SDSS J113622+004852 contains a dust-obscured starburst with SFR ~ 69 M$_{sun}$ yr$^{-1}$. The HI absorption lines have a high optical depth, with $τ_{pk}$ of 1.77 $\pm$ 0.16 for SDSS J090331+010847 (the highest value for any z > 0.1 associated system found to date) and 0.14 $\pm$ 0.01 for SDSS J113622+004852. In the redshift range probed by our ASKAP observations, the detection rate for associated HI absorption lines (with $τ_{pk}$ > 0.1 and at least 3$σ$ significance) is 2.9 (+9.7 -2.6) percent. Although the current sample is small, this rate is consistent with a trend seen in other studies for a lower detection rate of associated 21 cm HI absorption systems at higher redshift. We also searched for OH absorption lines at 0.67 < z < 1.34, but no detection was made in the 145 radio sources searched.

astro-ph.GA↗