Pre-selection of the candidate fields for deep imaging of the epoch of reionization with SKA1-low
| Autor: | Huanyuan Shan, S. W. Duchesne, Qian Zheng, Xiang-Ping Wu, Weitian Li, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Quan Guo |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
media_common.quotation_subject Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics FOS: Physical sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Near and far field Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics Square (algebra) Space and Planetary Science Sky Dark Ages Range (statistics) Surface brightness Pre selection Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) Reionization Remote sensing media_common |
| Zdroj: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 499:3434-3444 |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 0035-8711 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/staa3011 |
| Popis: | The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the first low-frequency instrument with the capability to directly image the structures of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Indeed, deep imaging of the EoR over 5 targeted fields of 20 square degrees each has been selected as the highest priority science objective for SKA1. Aiming at preparing for this highly challenging observation, we perform an extensive pre-selection of the `quietest' and `cleanest' candidate fields in the southern sky to be suited for deep imaging of the EoR using existing catalogs and observations over a broad frequency range. The candidate fields should meet a number of strict criteria to avoid contaminations from foreground structures and sources. The candidate fields should also exhibit both the lowest average surface brightness and smallest variance to ensure uniformity and high quality deep imaging over the fields. Our selection eventually yields a sample of 7 `ideal' fields of 20 square degrees in the southern sky that could be targeted for deep imaging of the EoR. Finally, these selected fields are convolved with the synthesized beam of SKA1-low stations to ensure that the effect of sidelobes from the far field bright sources is also weak. Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Major changes were made to include the effect of SKA1-low beam pattern. Main results were improved. Accepted for publication in MNRAS |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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