Academic literature on the topic 'Radio telescopes ; Radio interferometers ; Cosmic background radiation'

AbstractRadio astronomy has a major role in the study of the universe. The spiral structure of our Galaxy and the cosmic background radiation were first detected, and the dense component of interstellar gas is studied, at radio wavelengths. COBE revealed very weak temperature fluctuations in the microwave background, considered to be the seeds of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Most electromagnetic radiation from outer space is absorbed or reflected by the Earth’s atmosphere, except in two narrow spectral windows: the visible-near-infrared and the radio, which are nearly transparent. Centimetre and longer radio waves propagate almost freely in space; observations of them are practically independent of weather. Turbulence in our atmosphere does not distort the wavefront, which simplifies the building of radio telescopes, because no devices are needed to correct for it. Observations at these wavelengths can be made in high atmospheric humidity, or where the sky is not clear enough for optical telescopes.Simple instruments operating at radio wavelengths can be built at low cost in tropical countries, to teach students and to familiarize them with radio astronomy. We describe a two-antennae radio interferometer and a single-dish radio telescope operating at centimetre wavelengths. The Sun and strong synchrotron radio-sources, like Cassiopeia A and Cygnus A, are potential targets.

AbstractNew low frequency radio telescopes currently being built open up the possibility of observing the 21 cm radiation from redshifts 200 > z > 30, also known as the dark ages, see Furlanetto, Oh, & Briggs(2006) for a review. At these high redshifts, Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is absorbed by neutral hydrogen at its 21 cm hyperfine transition. This redshifted 21 cm signal thus carries information about the state of the early Universe and can be used to test fundamental physics. The 21 cm radiation probes a volume of the early Universe on kpc scales in contrast with CMB which probes a surface (of some finite thickness) on Mpc scales. Thus there is many orders of more information available, in principle, from the 21 cm observations of dark ages. We have studied the constraints these observations can put on the variation of fundamental constants (Khatri & Wandelt(2007)). Since the 21 cm signal depends on atomic physics it is very sensitive to the variations in the fine structure constant and can place constraints comparable to or better than the other astrophysical experiments (Δα/α= < 10−5) as shown in Figure 1. Making such observations will require radio telescopes of collecting area 10 - 106 km2 compared to ~ 1 km2 of current telescopes, for example LOFAR. We should also expect similar sensitivity to the electron to proton mass ratio. One of the challenges in observing this 21 cm cosmological signal is the presence of the synchrotron foregrounds which is many orders of magnitude larger than the cosmological signal but the two can be separated because of their different statistical nature (Zaldarriaga, Furlanetto, & Hernquist(2004)). Terrestrial EM interference from radio/TV etc. and Earth&s ionosphere poses problems for telescopes on ground which may be solved by going to the Moon and there are proposals for doing so, one of which is the Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI). In conclusion 21 cm cosmology promises a large wealth of data and provides the only way to observe the redshift range between recombination and reionization.

This paper outlines some of the radio frequency interference issues related to radio astronomy performed with space-based radio telescopes. Radio frequency interference that threatens radio astronomy observations from the surface of Earth will also degrade observations with space-based radio telescopes. However, any resulting interference could be different than for ground-based telescopes due to several factors. Space radio astronomy observations significantly enhance studies in different areas of astronomy. Several space radio astronomy experiments for studies in low-frequency radio astronomy, space VLBI, the cosmic microwave background and the submillimetre wavelengths have flown already. The first results from these missions have provided significant breakthroughs in our understanding of the nature of celestial radio radiation. Radio astronomers plan to deploy more radio telescopes in Earth orbit, in the vicinity of the L2 Sun-Earth Lagrangian point, and, in the more distant future, in the shielded zone of the Moon.

As stressed at the second International Lunar Exploration Working Group meeting (Kyoto, October 1996), the Moon, if kept free from pollution, contains a series of remarkable astronomical sites. In particular the following fields of instrumentation and research emerge :(1) very low frequency radio-astronomical arrays to be located on the lunar far side for surveying an entirely new spectrum, albeit at fairly low angular resolution;(2) interferometers in several wavebands to search for extrasolar planets as well as to perform other observations (morphological studies e.g.);(3) transit optical telescopes for the detailed observation of dark matter and other targets;(4) millimeter-wave telescopes for high sensitivity cosmic background mapping;(5) infrared telescopes in permanently cryogenic environment (e.g. the lunar South pole);(6) gravitational wave detectors;(7) cosmic-ray and high energy detectors;

Using the IRAM instruments (interferometer on Plateau de Bure and 30-m telescope on Pico Veleta) we have made numerous observations of molecular absorption lines in front of extragalactic millimeter wavelength radio sources. Observations of HCO+, CO and OH show that the lines of sight studied in this way sample the outer edges of molecular clouds or the diffuse clouds with highest column densities. Collisional excitation of the rotational levels is not significant in this density range for most molecular species, and accurate column densities may be derived by assuming radiative equilibrium with the cosmic microwave background. Using this technique we have measured column densities of CO, HCO+, H2CO, CN, HCN, HNC, CS, SO, H2S, C2H, and C3H2 in several lines of sight, intersecting about 20 individual clouds with CO column densities in the range 2 1014 to ∼ 1016 cm−2. These results confirm that complex molecules achieve dark-cloud abundances at low extinctions, either by formation in the gas phase or on grains.

ABSTRACT Radio sources are expected to have formed at high redshifts, producing an excess radiation background above the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at low frequencies. Their effect on the redshifted 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen is usually neglected, as it is assumed that the associated background is small. Recently, an excess radio background has been proposed as a possible explanation for the unusually strong 21-cm signal reported by EDGES. As a result, the implications of a smooth and extremely strong excess radio background on both the sky-averaged 21-cm signal and its fluctuations have been considered. Here, we take into account the inhomogeneity of the radio background created by a population of high-redshift galaxies and show that it adds a new type of 21-cm fluctuations to the well-known contributions of density, velocity, Ly α coupling, heating, and reionization. We find that a population of high-redshift galaxies even with a moderately enhanced radio efficiency (unrelated to the EDGES result) can have a significant effect on the 21-cm power spectrum and global signal. For models that can explain the EDGES data, we show that the 21-cm power spectrum at z ∼ 17 is enhanced by up to two orders of magnitude compared to the CMB-only standard case, with a significantly modified shape and time evolution due to radio fluctuations. These fluctuations are within reach of upcoming radio interferometers. We also find that these models can be significantly constrained by current and future observations of radio sources.

Abstract The 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn (CD) is likely to contain large fluctuations, with the most extreme astrophysical models on the verge of being ruled out by observations from radio interferometers. It is therefore vital that we understand not only the astrophysical processes governing this signal, but also other inherent processes impacting the signal itself, and in particular line-of-sight effects. Using our suite of fully numerical radiative transfer simulations, we investigate the impact on the redshifted 21-cm from the CD from one of these processes, namely the redshift-space distortions (RSDs). When RSDs are added, the resulting boost to the power spectra makes the signal more or equally detectable for our models for all redshifts, further strengthening hopes that a power spectra measurement of the CD will be possible. RSDs lead to anisotropy in the signal at the beginning and end of the CD, but not while X-ray heating is underway. The inclusion of RSDs, however, decreases detectability of the non-Gaussianity of fluctuations from inhomogeneous X-ray heating as measured by the skewness and kurtosis. On the other hand, mock observations created from all our simulations that include telescope noise corresponding to 1000 hours of observation with the Square Kilometre Array telescope show that we may be able image the CD for all heating models considered and suggest RSDs dramatically boost fluctuations coming from the inhomogeneous Ly-α background.

The 1987-90 triennium has been a prosperous one for space astronomy. The field has benefited from diverse activities, ranging in style from the continued operation of some old instruments, such as uv spectrographs aboard IUE and Voyager, to the introduction of completely new observing techniques, such as the Hipparcos mission to perform astrometry over large angles and the radio Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) demonstration with the NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). We have witnessed some important highlights in space astronomy which significantly enhanced our understanding of some fundamental problems in astrophysics. For instance, the COBE satellite offered a tremendous gain in the precision of measuring the cosmic background radiation, and initial results seem to authenticate the simple character of this microwave radiation. As noted in the previous report of Commission 44, Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud was the brightest supernova since the one sighted by Kepler in 1604. There have been remarkable improvements in astronomical instruments since Kepler’s time, and the fruits of our good fortunes with 1987A are now appearing in the literature. Finally, the long anticipated launch of our biggest enterprise in space astronomy, the Hubble Space Telescope, occurred in the spring of 1990.

The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS) is a project to produce an all-sky map in intensity and polarization at a central frequency of 5 GHz with 1 GHz bandwidth and approximately 1 degree resolution. The central frequency is low enough for the map to be dominated by synchrotron and free-free emission but high enough so that Faraday rotation and depolarization are small across most of the sky. The C-BASS map will enable a more accurate removal of contaminating foregrounds from measurements of the cosmic microwave background, particularly in polarization where the B-mode signal from inflation is likely to be orders of magnitude weaker than the diffuse Galactic foreground emission. To produce an all-sky map from the ground requires two telescopes, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. This thesis focuses on analysis of C-BASS North data. The noise properties of time-ordered data are characterised by fitting a noise model to periodograms. Using simulations, the errors introduced into the C-BASS maps by a destriping mapmaker are quantified and we reduce the signal error by masking the brightest pixels during baseline offset estimation. Jackknife tests are used to test the C-BASS data for systematics and to test the accuracy of the sensitivity maps. In total intensity, the spectral index of diffuse Galactic emission between 5 GHz and 408 MHz is measured using an extended T-T plot method and the results are compared to simulations. The spectral index of polarized diffuse Galactic emission between 5 GHz and 30 GHz is estimated in 55 arcminute pixels, modelling the polarized intensity as a Rician random variable.