All-Sky Imaging Search for Transients with the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array

Details All-Sky Imaging Search for Transients with the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array All-Sky Imaging Search for Transients with the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.1108c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #11.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.745

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array (LWDA) is a prototype 16 element low frequency, phased dipole array. It operates between 60-80 MHz with an instantaneous bandwidth of 1.6 MHz. The system allows cross correlation of each of the 120 pairs of antennas. Dual orthogonal linear polarizations are received and the electronics are capable of digital delay beamforming with two fully-independent beams, as well as all-sky imaging. The LWDA hardware installation was completed in late October 2006, and the instrument successfully achieved first light. The operational system is currently engaged in scientific observations including all-sky surveying for bright continuum transient radio emission, as well as targeted observations of pulsars. The LWDA has observed several solar bursts and should also be sensitive to giant pulses from the Crab pulsar.
We describe the current status of the transient detection pipeline and present results from the first year of all-sky monitoring. Initial data were taken in 50 ms snapshots at 74 MHz every 5 minutes. Bright sources such as Cygnus A, Cassiopeia A, the Galactic Plane, and the Sun are clearly visible, but cannot be accurately modeled given the irregular time sampling and sensitivity variations across the primary beam. These sources were masked for the transient search. Additionally, an instrumental issue led to flagging high amplitude data with phase near zero; thus we are not sensitive to transients directly overhead or near the masked sources. We reach a sensitivity of 400 Jy/bm over the remaining sky. More regular sampling has been implemented and will allow us to build up a standard "Sky model" which varies with time over the day. By comparing new data to this standard we will be able to search for transients over the whole sky.
Basic research in radio astronomy at the Naval Research Laboratory is supported by 6.1 base funding.

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