First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey

We are undertaking a large-scale, microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey, MASIV, of the northern sky (decl. > 0°) at 4.9 GHz with the VLA. Our objective is to construct a sample of 100 to 150 scintillating extragalactic sources with which to examine both the microarcsecond struct...

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Main Authors: Lovell, J., Jauncey, D., Bignall, Hayley, Kedziora-Chudczer, L., Macquart, Jean-Pierre, Rickett, B.J., Tzioumis, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22903
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author Lovell, J.
Jauncey, D.
Bignall, Hayley
Kedziora-Chudczer, L.
Macquart, Jean-Pierre
Rickett, B.J.
Tzioumis, A.
author_facet Lovell, J.
Jauncey, D.
Bignall, Hayley
Kedziora-Chudczer, L.
Macquart, Jean-Pierre
Rickett, B.J.
Tzioumis, A.
author_sort Lovell, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We are undertaking a large-scale, microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey, MASIV, of the northern sky (decl. > 0°) at 4.9 GHz with the VLA. Our objective is to construct a sample of 100 to 150 scintillating extragalactic sources with which to examine both the microarcsecond structure and the parent populations of these sources, and to probe the turbulent interstellar medium responsible for the scintillation. We report on our first epoch of observations, which revealed variability on timescales ranging from hours to days in 85 of 710 compact flat-spectrum sources. The number of highly variable sources, those with rms flux density variations greater than 4% of the mean, increases with decreasing source flux density, but rapid, large amplitude variables such as J1819+3845 are very rare. When compared with a model for the scintillation due to irregularities in an electron layer 500 pc thick, our preliminary results indicate maximum brightness temperatures 1012 K, similar to those obtained from VLBI surveys even though interstellar scintillation is not subject to the same angular resolution limit.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2003
publisher Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-229032023-02-22T06:24:23Z First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey Lovell, J. Jauncey, D. Bignall, Hayley Kedziora-Chudczer, L. Macquart, Jean-Pierre Rickett, B.J. Tzioumis, A. ISM: structure radio continuum galaxies: active We are undertaking a large-scale, microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey, MASIV, of the northern sky (decl. > 0°) at 4.9 GHz with the VLA. Our objective is to construct a sample of 100 to 150 scintillating extragalactic sources with which to examine both the microarcsecond structure and the parent populations of these sources, and to probe the turbulent interstellar medium responsible for the scintillation. We report on our first epoch of observations, which revealed variability on timescales ranging from hours to days in 85 of 710 compact flat-spectrum sources. The number of highly variable sources, those with rms flux density variations greater than 4% of the mean, increases with decreasing source flux density, but rapid, large amplitude variables such as J1819+3845 are very rare. When compared with a model for the scintillation due to irregularities in an electron layer 500 pc thick, our preliminary results indicate maximum brightness temperatures 1012 K, similar to those obtained from VLBI surveys even though interstellar scintillation is not subject to the same angular resolution limit. 2003 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22903 10.1086/378053 Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc unknown
spellingShingle ISM: structure
radio continuum
galaxies: active
Lovell, J.
Jauncey, D.
Bignall, Hayley
Kedziora-Chudczer, L.
Macquart, Jean-Pierre
Rickett, B.J.
Tzioumis, A.
First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
title First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
title_full First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
title_fullStr First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
title_full_unstemmed First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
title_short First results from MASIV: The microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
title_sort first results from masiv: the microarcsecond scintillation-induced variability survey
topic ISM: structure
radio continuum
galaxies: active
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22903