SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Wolfgang Reich

Publications and source records attributed to Wolfgang Reich.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Optical Discovery of New and Candidate Galactic Supernova Remnants Plus Optical Imaging of the Monogem Supernova Remnant

We report the discovery of new and candidate Galactic supernova remnants made through over 2000 hours of H$α$ and [O III] imaging using amateur class instrumentation. These nebulae range from 0.5 to over 8 degrees in size. Five of these, namely G27.8-17.1, G115.6+9.2, G190.5+25.3, G195.9+2.2 and G239.9+7.0 exhibit low-dispersion optical spectra indicating shock emission by the presence of strong [S II] $λλ$6716,6731 and [O I] $λ$6300 line emissions relative to H$α$, or exhibit a nonradiative shock generated Balmer dominated spectrum. Their filamentary emission morphology also supports the presence of interstellar shock fronts. Three other optical nebulae, G191.3+11.1, G205.7-1.7, and G305.4-0.7 appear likely to be remnants and are proposed as new SNR candidates. We also present [O III] and H$α$ images of optical filaments associated with the 25 degree diameter Monogem Ring SNR which reveal extensive emission-line filaments around most of the remnant's X-ray boundaries. Deep images of the X-ray suspected remnant G190.4+12.5 and the large and [O III] emission dominated SNR G206.6+6.1 seen toward or near the Monogem SNR are also included. Key findings of this work include: 1) optical surveys can sometimes detect SNRs better than radio and X-ray SNR searches, 2) Balmer nonradiative shocks appear not uncommon in high Galactic latitude SNRs, and 3) faint \O3 emission dominated SNRs may have been missed in prior H$α$ emission only surveys.

astro-ph.HE

Magnetic field properties of the SNR HB 9

We aim to study the polarization and magnetic field properties of the SNR HB 9 using new 21-cm continuum cube data from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio telescope (FAST). We computed the Faraday depth at 21 cm, and re-analyzed the rotation measures (RMs) of HB 9 using in addition Effelsberg 2695-MHz and Urumqi 4800-MHz polarization data. FAST total-intensity images of two subbands are decomposed into components of multiple angular scales to check spectral-index variation via temperature versus temperature plots (TT-plots). The filamentary emission has a spectral index ($S\simν^α$) of $α=-$0.52, corresponding to freshly accelerated relativistic electrons. The diffuse emission has a steeper spectrum of $α=-$0.63, corresponding to confined electrons that are no longer accelerated. The FAST detected 1385-MHz polarized emission might come from a thin layer in the outer envelope of the shells, with a Faraday depth of 4-28 rad m$^{-2}$ from the Faraday rotation synthesis result. The RMs derived from the Effelsberg 2695-MHz and Urumqi 4800-MHz polarization data show about 70 rad m$^{-2}$ in the eastern and northern shell, and 124 rad m$^{-2}$ in the inner and southern patches. The regular magnetic field is about 5$-$8 $μ$G over the remnant. The northern shell shows depolarization at 2695 MHz relative to the 4800-MHz polarization data, indicating an additional random magnetic field of 12 $μ$G on the scale of 0.6 pc. The shock wave might have entered the dense gas environment in the northern-shell region and has driven turbulence to cause depolarization at 2695 MHz.

astro-ph.GA

New Radio Observations of the Supernova Remnant CTA 1

We present new radio images of the supernova remnant (SNR) CTA 1 at 1420 and 408 MHz, and in the 21 cm line of H I observed with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Synthesis Telescope and at 1420 MHz observed with the Effelsberg 100 m telescope. We confirm previously described continuum features and elaborate further on filamentary features identified using the high-resolution (1') maps from these new observations. We investigate the abrupt change in sign of rotation measure (RM) across the SNR, using the linear polarization observations in the four bands around 1420 MHz. Following X. H. Sun et al.'s (2011) investigation, we both confirm that the distribution of signs of the RMs for extragalactic sources in the area appears to match that of the shell, as well as combine the data from the four bands to estimate the relative depolarization and the intrinsic rotation measure of the SNR. We do not conclusively reject X. H. Sun et al.'s (2011) claim of a Faraday screen in the foreground causing the distribution of RMs that we observe; however, we do suggest an alternative explanation of a swept-up stellar wind from the progenitor star with a toroidal magnetic field. Finally, we expand on the analysis of the H I observations by applying the Rolling Hough Transform to isolate filamentary structure and better identify H I emission with the SNR. Further constraining the H I velocity channels associated with CTA 1, we use more recent Galactic rotation curves to calculate an updated kinematic distance of 1.09 +/- 0.2 kpc.

astro-ph.HE

Faraday tomography with CHIME: the `tadpole' feature G137+7

A direct consequence of Faraday rotation is that the polarized radio sky does not resemble the total intensity sky at long wavelengths. We analyze G137+7, which is undetectable in total intensity but appears as a depolarization feature. We use the first polarization maps from the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment. Our $400-729$ MHz bandwidth and angular resolution, $17'$ to $30'$, allow us to use Faraday synthesis to analyze the polarization structure. In polarized intensity and polarization angle maps, we find a "tail" extending $10^\circ$ from the "head" and designate the combined object the "tadpole". Similar polarization angles, distinct from the background, indicate that the head and tail are physically associated. The head appears as a depolarized ring in single channels, but wideband observations show that it is a Faraday rotation feature. Our investigations of H I and H$α$ find no connections to the tadpole. The tail suggests motion of either the gas or an ionizing star through the ISM; the B2(e) star HD 20336 is a candidate. While the head features a coherent, $\sim -8$ rad m$^2$ Faraday depth, Faraday synthesis also identifies multiple components in both the head and tail. We verify the locations of the components in the spectra using QU fitting. Our results show that $\sim$octave-bandwidth Faraday rotation observations at $\sim 600$ MHz are sensitive to low-density ionized or partially-ionized gas which is undetectable in other tracers.

astro-ph.GA

Deep Optical Emission-Line Images of Nine Known and Three New Galactic Supernova Remnants

Deep optical emission-line images are presented for nine known plus three new Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs), all but one having at least one angular dimension greater than one degree. Wide-field images taken in H$α$ and [O III] $λ$5007 reveal many new and surprising remnant structures including large remnant shock extensions and `breakout' features not seen in published optical or radio data. These images represent over 12,000 individual images totaling more than 1000 hours of exposure time taken over the last two years mainly using small aperture telescopes which detected fainter nebular line emissions than published emission-line images. During the course of this imaging program, we discovered three new SNRs, namely G107.5-5.1 (the Nereides Nebula), G209.9-8.2, and G210.5+1.3, two of which have diameters >1.5 degrees. Besides offering greater structural detail on the nine already known SNRs, a key finding of this study is the importance of [O III] emission-line imaging for mapping the complete shock emissions of Galactic SNRs.

astro-ph.HE

Extended radio halo of the supernova remnant CTB87 (G74.9+1.2)

Breaks in the radio spectra of supernova remnants (SNRs) reflect the maximum energy of either shock-accelerated electrons or - in the case of pulsar wind nebulae - of electrons injected by the central pulsar. Otherwise, the break may result from energy losses due to synchrotron aging or it is caused by energy-dependent diffusion. A spectral steepening of the plerionic SNR CTB87 at around 11 GHz was observed in the eighties, but a recent analysis of CTB87's energetic properties based on new radio data raised doubt on it. CTB87 consists of a central compact component surrounded by a diffuse centrally peaked almost circular halo. Missing faint halo emission due to insufficient sensitivity of early high-frequency observations may be be the reason for the reported spectral break. We intend to clarify the high-frequency spectrum of CTB87 by new sensitive observations. We used the broad-band 2-cm receiver at the Effelsberg 100-m telescope for sensitive continuum observations of CTB87 and its halo in two frequency bands. The new 2-cm maps of CTB87 show halo emission with a diameter of about 17' or 30 pc for a distance of 6.1 kpc in agreement with lower-frequency data. The measured flux densities are significantly higher than those reported earlier. The new 2-cm data establish the high-frequency continuation of CTB87's low-frequency spectrum. Any significant high-frequency spectral bend or break is constrained to frequencies well above about 18 GHz. The extended halo of CTB87 has a faint counterpart in gamma-rays (VER J2016+37) and thus indicates a common origin of the emitting electrons.

astro-ph.HE

New continuum and polarization observations of the Cygnus Loop with FAST

We report on the continuum and polarization observations of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant (SNR) conducted by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). FAST observations provide high angular resolution and high sensitivity images of the SNR, which will help to disentangle its nature. We obtained Stokes I, Q and U maps over the frequency range of 1.03 - 1.46 GHz split into channels of 7.63 kHz. The original angular resolution is in the range of ~3 arcmin - ~3.8 arcmin, and we combined all the data at a common resolution of 4 arcmin. The temperature scale of the total intensity and the spectral index from the in-band temperature-temperature plot are consistent with previous observations, which validates the data calibration and map-making procedures. The rms sensitivity for the band-averaged total-intensity map is about 20 mK in brightness temperature, which is at the level of confusion limit. For the first time, we apply rotation measure (RM) synthesis to the Cygnus Loop to obtain the polarization intensity and RM maps. The rms sensitivity for polarization is about 5 mK, far below the total-intensity confusion limit. We also obtained RMs of eight extra-galactic sources, and demonstrate that the wide-band frequency coverage helps to overcome the ambiguity of RM determinations.

astro-ph.GA

Radio properties of the optically identified supernova remnant G107.0+9.0

The vast majority of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) were detected by their synchrotron radio emission. Recently, the evolved SNR G107.0+9.0 with a diameter of about 3~deg or 75~pc up to 100~pc in size was optically detected with an indication of faint associated radio emission. This SNR requires a detailed radio study. We aim to search for radio emission from SNR G107.0+9.0 by analysing new data from the Effelsberg 100-m and the Urumqi 25-m radio telescopes in addition to available radio surveys. Radio SNRs outside of the Galactic plane, where confusion is rare, must be very faint if they have not been identified so far. Guided by the H$α$ emission of G107.0+9.0, we separated its radio emission from the Galactic large-scale emission. Radio emission from SNR G107.0+9.0 is detected between 22~MHz and 4.8~GHz with a steep non-thermal spectrum, which confirms G107.0+9.0 as an SNR. Its surface brightness is among the lowest known for Galactic SNRs. Polarised emission is clearly detected at 1.4~GHz but is fainter at 4.8~GHz. We interpret the polarised emission as being caused by a Faraday screen associated with G107.0+9.0 and its surroundings. Its ordered magnetic field along the line of sight is below 1~$μ$G. At 4.8~GHz, we identified a depolarised filament along the western periphery of G107.0+9.0 with a magnetic field strength along the line of sight $B{_{||}} \sim 15~μ$G, which requires magnetic field compression. G107.0+9.0 adds to the currently small number of known, evolved, large-diameter, low-surface-brightness Galactic SNRs. We have shown that such objects can be successfully extracted from radio-continuum surveys despite the dominating large-scale diffuse Galactic emission.

astro-ph.GA

The Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS): The brightest polarized region in the Southern sky at 75cm and its implications for Radio Loop II

Using the Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS) Low-Band South (LBS) southern sky polarization survey, covering 300 to 480 MHz at 81 arcmin resolution, we reveal the brightest region in the Southern polarized sky at these frequencies. The region, G150-50, covers nearly 20deg$^2$, near (l,b)~(150 deg,-50 deg). Using GMIMS-LBS and complementary data at higher frequencies (~0.6--30 GHz), we apply Faraday tomography and Stokes QU-fitting techniques. We find that the magnetic field associated with G150-50 is both coherent and primarily in the plane of the sky, and indications that the region is associated with Radio Loop II. The Faraday depth spectra across G150-50 are broad and contain a large-scale spatial gradient. We model the magnetic field in the region as an expanding shell, and we can reproduce both the observed Faraday rotation and the synchrotron emission in the GMIMS-LBS band. Using QU-fitting, we find that the Faraday spectra are produced by several Faraday dispersive sources along the line-of-sight. Alternatively, polarization horizon effects that we cannot model are adding complexity to the high-frequency polarized spectra. The magnetic field structure of Loop II dominates a large fraction of the sky, and studies of the large-scale polarized sky will need to account for this object. Studies of G150-50 with high angular resolution could mitigate polarization horizon effects, and clarify the nature of G150-50.

astro-ph.GA

A global view on star formation: The GLOSTAR Galactic plane survey III. 6.7 GHz methanol maser survey in Cygnus X

The Cygnus X complex is covered by the Global View of Star Formation in the Milky Way (GLOSTAR) survey, an unbiased radio-wavelength Galactic plane survey, in 4--8 GHz continuum radiation and several spectral lines. The GLOSTAR survey observed the 6.7~GHz transition of methanol (CH$_3$OH), an exclusive tracer of high-mass young stellar objects. Using the Very Large Array in both the B and D configurations, we observed an area in Cygnus~X of $7^{\rm o}\times3^{\rm o}$ in size and simultaneously covered the methanol line and the continuum, allowing cross-registration. We detected thirteen sources with Class~II methanol maser emission and one source with methanol absorption. Two methanol maser sources are newly detected; in addition, we found four new velocity components associated with known masers. Five masers are concentrated in the DR21 ridge and W75N. We determined the characteristics of the detected masers and investigated the association with infrared, (sub)millimeter, and radio continuum emission. All maser sources are associated with (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission, which is consistent with the picture of masers tracing regions in an active stage of star formation. On the other hand, only five masers ($38\pm17\%$) have radio continuum counterparts seen with GLOSTAR within $\sim$1$''$, testifying to their youth. Comparing the distributions of the bolometric luminosity and the luminosity-to-mass ratio of cores that host 6.7~GHz methanol masers with those of the full core population, we identified lower limits $L_{\rm Bol}\sim200~L_\odot$ and $L_{\rm Bol}/M_{\rm core}\sim1~L_\odot~M^{-1}_\odot$ for a dust source to host maser emission.

astro-ph.GA

Long, depolarising H$α$-filament towards the Monogem ring

In soft X-rays, the Monogem ring is an object with a diameter of 25° located in the Galactic anti-centre. It is believed to be a faint, evolved, local supernova remnant. The ring is also visible in the far-ultraviolet, and a few optical filaments are related. It is not seen at radio wavelengths, as other large supernova remnants are. We study a narrow about 4.5° long, faint H$α$-filament, G203.7+11.5,that is seen towards the centre of the Monogem ring. It causes depolarisation and excessive Faraday rotation of radio polarisation data. Polarisation observations at $λ$11\ cm and $λ$21\ cm with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope were analysed. in addition to $WMAP$ data, extragalactic rotation measures, and H$α$ data. A Faraday-screen model was applied. From the analysis of the depolarisation properties of the H$α$ filament, we derived a line-of-sight magnetic field, $B_{||}$, of 26$\pm5μ$G for a distance of 300~pc and an electron density, $n_\mathrm{e}$, of 1.6~cm$^{-3}$. The absolute largest rotation measure of G203.7+11.5 is -86$\pm3$~rad~ m$^{-2}$, where the magnetic field direction has the opposite sign from the large-scale Galactic field. We estimated the average synchrotron emissivity at $λ$21\ cm up to 300~pc distance towards G203.7+11.5 to about 1.1~K $T_\mathrm{b}$/kpc, which is higher than typical Milky Way values. The magnetic field within G203.7+11.5 is unexpected in direction and strength. Most likely, the filament is related to the Monogem-ring shock, where interactions with ambient clouds may cause local magnetic field reversals. We confirm earlier findings of an enhanced but direction-dependent local synchrotron emissivity.

astro-ph.GA

A polarization study of the supernova remnant CTB 80

We present a radio polarization study of the supernova remnant CTB 80 based on images at 1420 MHz from the Canadian Galactic plane survey, at 2695 MHz from the Effelsberg survey of the Galactic plane, and at 4800 MHz from the Sino-German 6cm polarization survey of the Galactic plane. We obtained a rotation measure (RM) map using polarization angles at 2695 MHz and 4800 MHz as the polarization percentages are similar at these two frequencies. RM exhibits a transition from positive values to negative values along one of the shells hosting the pulsar PSR B1951+32 and its pulsar wind nebula. The reason for the change of sign remains unclear. We identified a partial shell structure, which is bright in polarized intensity but weak in total intensity. This structure could be part of CTB 80 or part of a new supernova remnant unrelated to CTB 80.

astro-ph.GA

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.

astro-ph.EP

An Improved Model of Diffuse Galactic Radio Emission from 10 MHz to 5 THz

We present an improved Global Sky Model (GSM) of diffuse galactic radio emission from 10 MHz to 5 THz, whose uses include foreground modeling for CMB and 21 cm cosmology. Our model improves on past work both algorithmically and by adding new data sets such as the Planck maps and the enhanced Haslam map. Our method generalizes the Principal Component Analysis approach to handle non-overlapping regions, enabling the inclusion of 29 sky maps with no region of the sky common to all. We also perform a blind separation of our GSM into physical components with a method that makes no assumptions about physical emission mechanisms (synchrotron, free-free, dust, etc). Remarkably, this blind method automatically finds five components that have previously only been found "by hand", which we identify with synchrotron, free-free, cold dust, warm dust, and the CMB anisotropy, with maps and spectra agreeing with previous work but in many cases with smaller error bars. The improved GSM is available online at github.com/jeffzhen/gsm2016.

astro-ph.CO

Measuring magnetism in the Milky Way with the Square Kilometre Array

Magnetic fields in the Milky Way are present on a wide variety of sizes and strengths, influencing many processes in the Galactic ecosystem such as star formation, gas dynamics, jets, and evolution of supernova remnants or pulsar wind nebulae. Observation methods are complex and indirect; the most used of these are a grid of rotation measures of unresolved polarized extragalactic sources, and broadband polarimetry of diffuse emission. Current studies of magnetic fields in the Milky Way reveal a global spiral magnetic field with a significant turbulent component; the limited sample of magnetic field measurements in discrete objects such as supernova remnants and HII regions shows a wide variety in field configurations; a few detections of magnetic fields in Young Stellar Object jets have been published; and the magnetic field structure in the Galactic Center is still under debate. The SKA will unravel the 3D structure and configurations of magnetic fields in the Milky Way on sub-parsec to galaxy scales, including field structure in the Galactic Center. The global configuration of the Milky Way disk magnetic field, probed through pulsar RMs, will resolve controversy about reversals in the Galactic plane. Characteristics of interstellar turbulence can be determined from the grid of background RMs. We expect to learn to understand magnetic field structures in protostellar jets, supernova remnants, and other discrete sources, due to the vast increase in sample sizes possible with the SKA. This knowledge of magnetic fields in the Milky Way will not only be crucial in understanding of the evolution and interaction of Galactic structures, but will also help to define and remove Galactic foregrounds for a multitude of extragalactic and cosmological studies.

astro-ph.GA

G141.2+5.0, a new Pulsar Wind Nebula discovered in the Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way

We report the discovery of the new pulsar wind nebula (PWN) G141.2+5.0 in data observed with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory's Synthesis Telescope at 1420 MHz. The new PWN has a diameter of about 3.5', which translates at a distance of 4.0 kpc to a spatial extent of about 4 pc. It displays a radio spectral index of $α\approx -0.7$, similar to the PWN G76.9+1.1. G141.2+5.0 is highly polarized up to 40% with an average of 15% in the 1420 MHz data. It is located in the centre of a small spherical HI bubble, which is expanding at a velocity of 6 km/s. The bubble's systemic velocity is -53 km/s and could be the result of the progenitor star's mass loss or the shell-type SNR created by the same supernova explosion in a highly advanced stage. The systemic velocity of the bubble shares the velocity of HI associated with the Cygnus spiral arm, which is seen across the 2nd and 3rd quadrants and an active star-forming arm immediately beyond the Perseus arm. A kinematical distance of 4+/-0.5 kpc is found for G141.2+5.0, similar to the optical distance of the Cygnus arm (3.8+/-1.1 kpc) and its kinematic HI distance (4.4+/-0.6 kpc). G141.2+5.0 represents the first radio PWN discovered in 17 years and the first SNR discovered in the Cygnus spiral arm, which is in stark contrast with the Perseus arm's overwhelming population of shell-type remnants.

astro-ph.GA

Two Radio Supernova Remnants Discovered in the Outer Galaxy

We report on the discovery of two supernova remnants (SNRs) designated G152.4-2.1 and G190.9-2.2, using Canadian Galactic Plane Survey data. The aims of this paper are, first, to present evidence that favours the classification of both sources as SNRs, and, second, to describe basic parameters (integrated flux density, spectrum, and polarization) as well as properties (morphology, line-of-sight velocity, distance and physical size) to facilitate and motivate future observations. Spectral and polarization parameters are derived from multiwavelength data from existing radio surveys carried out at wavelengths between 6 and 92cm. In particular for the source G152.4-2.1 we also use new observations at 11cm done with the Effelsberg 100m telescope. The interstellar medium around the discovered sources is analyzed using 1-arcminute line data from neutral hydrogen (HI) and 45-arcsecond 12CO(J=1-0). G152.4-2.1 is a barrel shaped SNR with two opposed radio-bright polarized flanks on the North and South. The remnant, which is elongated along the Galactic plane is evolving in a more-or-less uniform medium. G190.9-2.2 is also a shell-type remnant with East and West halves elongated perpendicular to the plane, and is evolving within a low-density region bounded by dense neutral hydrogen in the North and South, and molecular (12CO) clouds in the East and West. The integrated radio continuum spectral indices are -0.65+/-0.05 and -0.66+/-0.05 for G152.4-2.1 and G190.9-2.2 respectively. Both SNRs are approximately 1 kpc distant, with G152.4-2.1 being larger (32x30 pc in diameter) than G190.9-2.2 (18x16 pc). These two remnants are the lowest surface brightness SNRs yet catalogued at 5x10^-23 W m^-2 Hz^-1 sr^-1.

astro-ph.GA

The LOFAR Magnetism Key Science Project

Measuring radio waves at low frequencies offers a new window to study cosmic magnetism, and LOFAR is the ideal radio telescope to open this window widely. The LOFAR Magnetism Key Science Project (MKSP) draws together expertise from multiple fields of magnetism science and intends to use LOFAR to tackle fundamental questions on cosmic magnetism by exploiting a variety of observational techniques. Surveys will provide diffuse emission from the Milky Way and from nearby galaxies, tracking the propagation of long-lived cosmic-ray electrons through magnetic field structures, to search for radio halos around spiral and dwarf galaxies and for magnetic fields in intergalactic space. Targeted deep-field observations of selected nearby galaxies and suspected intergalactic filaments allow sensitive mapping of weak magnetic fields through Rotation Measure (RM) grids. High-resolution observations of protostellar jets and giant radio galaxies reveal structures on small physical scales and at high redshifts, whilst pulsar RMs map large-scale magnetic structures of the Galactic disk and halo in revolutionary detail. The MKSP is responsible for the development of polarization calibration and processing, thus widening the scientific power of LOFAR.

astro-ph.IM