- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/520/A113
- Title:
- VLBI detection of 398 extragalactic radio sources
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/520/A113
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The European space astrometry mission Gaia will construct a dense optical QSO-based celestial reference frame. For consistency between optical and radio positions, it will be important to align the Gaia and VLBI frames with the highest possible accuracy. It has been found that only 70 (10%) of the sources from the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) are suitable for establishing this link, either because they are not bright enough at optical wavelengths or because they have significant extended radio emission which precludes reaching the highest astrometric accuracy. In order to improve the situation, we have initiated a VLBI survey dedicated to finding additional suitable radio sources for aligning the two frames. The sample consists of 447 optically- bright (magnitude <=18) extragalactic radio sources, typically 20 times weaker than the ICRF sources, which have been selected by cross-correlating an optical quasar catalog with the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS, Cat. VIII/65). This paper presents the observing strategy to detect, image, and measure accurate radio positions for these sources. It also provides results on the VLBI detectability of the sources, as derived from initial observations with the European VLBI Network in June and October 2007. Based on these observations, a high detection rate of 89% is found, which is promising for the continuation of this project. This high VLBI detection rate for sources from the NVSS catalog is probably due to the selection process, suggesting that optically-bright quasars have compact radio structures.
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/230/13
- Title:
- VLBI Ecliptic Plane Survey: VEPS-1
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/230/13
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present here the results of the first part of the VLBI Ecliptic Plane Survey (VEPS) program. The goal of the program is to find all compact sources within 7.5{deg} of the ecliptic plane that are suitable as calibrators for anticipated phase referencing observations of spacecraft, and determine their positions with accuracy at the 1.5 nrad level. We run the program in two modes: search and refine. In the search mode, a complete sample of all sources brighter than 50mJy at 5GHz listed in the Parkes-MIT-NRAO and Green Bank 6cm (GB6) catalogs, except those previously detected with VLBI, is observed. In the refining mode, the positions of all ecliptic plane sources, including those found in the search mode, are improved. By 2016 October, thirteen 24hr sessions that targeted all sources brighter than 100mJy have been observed and analyzed. Among 3320 observed target sources, 555 objects have been detected. We also conducted a number of follow-up VLBI experiments in the refining mode and improved the positions of 249 ecliptic plane sources.
17113. VLBI ICRF2
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/150/58
- Title:
- VLBI ICRF2
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/150/58
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the second realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF2) at radio wavelengths using nearly 30 years of Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations. ICRF2 contains precise positions of 3414 compact radio astronomical objects and has a positional noise floor of ~40{mu}as and a directional stability of the frame axes of ~10{mu}as. A set of 295 new "defining" sources was selected on the basis of positional stability and the lack of extensive intrinsic source structure. The positional stability of these 295 defining sources and their more uniform sky distribution eliminates the two greatest weaknesses of the first realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF1). Alignment of ICRF2 with the International Celestial Reference System was made using 138 positionally stable sources common to both ICRF2 and ICRF1. The resulting ICRF2 was adopted by the International Astronomical Union as the new fundamental celestial reference frame, replacing ICRF1 as of 2010 January 1.
17114. VLBI ICRF. II
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/127/3587
- Title:
- VLBI ICRF. II
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/127/3587
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We use very long baseline interferometry data obtained between mid-1995 and the end of 2002 May together with older data to extend and revise the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). Revised positions of ICRF candidate and "other" sources, based on inclusion of the additional data, are presented. Positions, in the frame of the ICRF, for an additional 109 new sources are also presented. All but four of the new sources are located north of {delta}=-30{deg}. Positions of the ICRF defining sources remain unchanged. We present a summary of current astrometric and geodetic observing programs and discuss the evolution and future of the ICRF.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/588/A102
- Title:
- VLBI images of 2 binary AGN candidates
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/588/A102
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The sources SDSS J113126.08-020459.2 and SDSS J110851.04+065901.4 are two double-peaked [OIII] emitting AGN, identified as candidate binary AGNs by optical and near infrared (NIR) observations. We observed the two sources with high resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) using the European VLBI Network at 5GHz, reduced VLA observations at three frequencies available for one of the sources, and used archival HST observations. For the source SDSS J113126.08-020459.2, the VLBI observations detected only one single compact component associated with the eastern NIR nucleus. In SDSS J110851.04+065901.4, the VLBI observations did not detect any compact components, but the VLA observations allowed us to identify a possible compact core in the region of the north-western optical/NIR nucleus. In this source we find kpc-scale extended radio emission that is spatially coincident to the ultraviolet continuum and to the extended emission narrow line region. The UV continuum is significantly obscured since the amount of extended radio emission yields a star formation rate of about 110M_{sun}_/yr, which is an order of magnitude larger than implied by the observed ultraviolet emission. Our analysis confirms the presence of only one AGN in the two candidate binary AGNs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/638/A130
- Title:
- VLBI images of gamma-ray nova V407 Cygni
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/638/A130
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- In 2010 March, the Large Area Telescope on board Fermi revealed a transient gamma-ray source that is positionally coincident with the optical nova in the symbiotic binary, V407 Cyg. This event marked the first discovery of gamma-ray emission from a nova. We aim to obtain resolved radio imaging of the material involved in the nova event, to determine the ejecta geometry and advance velocity directly in the image plane, and to constrain the physical conditions of the system. We observed the source with the European VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) Network in real time mode, at 1.6 and 5GHz, and the Very Long Baseline Array at 1.6, 5, and 8.4GHz. In total, we observed the source over 16 epochs, starting 20 days after the optical discovery and continuing for over six months. Milliarcsecond-scale radio emission is detected in 10/16 epochs of observations. The source is initially very dim but it later shows a substantial increase in brightness and a resolved shell-like structure 40-90 days after the optical event. The shell has a projected elliptical shape and is asymmetric in brightness and spectral index, being brighter and characterised by a rising spectrum at the south-eastern edge. We determine a projected expansion velocity of ~3500km/s in the initial phase (for an adopted 2.7kpc distance), and ~2100km/s between day 20 and 91. We also found an emitting feature about 350 mas (940AU) to the north-west, advancing at a projected velocity of ~700km/s along the polar axis of the binary. The total flux density in the VLBI images is significantly lower than that previously reported at similar epochs and over much wider angular scales with the VLA. Optical spectra convincingly demonstrated that in 2010 we were viewing V407 Cyg along the equatorial plane and from behind the Mira. Our radio observations image the bipolar flow of the ejecta perpendicular to the orbital plane, where deceleration is much lower than through the equatorial plane probed by the truncated profile of optical emission lines. The separated polar knot at 350 mas and the bipolar flow strictly resemble a similar arrangement seen in Hen 2-104, another symbiotic Mira seen equator-on that went through a large outburst ~5700yrs ago. The observed ~700km/s expansion constrains the launch date of the polar knot around 2004, during the accretion-fed active phase preceding the 2010 nova outburst.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/526/A102
- Title:
- VLBI imaging of 105 extragalactic radio sources
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/526/A102
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The European space astrometry mission Gaia, to be launched by 2012, will construct a dense optical QSO-based celestial reference frame which will need to be linked to the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF; the IAU fundamental frame), with the highest accuracy. However, it has been found that only 10% of the ICRF sources (70 sources) are suitable to establish this link. The remaining sources are not useful either because they are not bright enough at optical wavelengths or because they have significant extended radio emission which precludes reaching the highest astrometric accuracy. In order to improve the accuracy of this alignment, we have developed a program of VLBI observations based on three steps to detect, image and measure astrometric positions of weak extragalactic radio sources, with bright optical counterparts, from a sample of 447 candidate sources. The experiments devoted to VLBI detection, carried out with the European VLBI Network (EVN) in June and October 2007, were very successful, with 398 sources detected at both S- and X-bands. From these, 105 sources were observed in March 2008 with a global VLBI array (EVN and VLBA; Very Long Baseline Array) for imaging their VLBI structures. All sources were successfully imaged in both bands and about 50% (47 sources) were found to be point-like on VLBI scales. These images are available at http://www.obs.u-bordeaux1.fr/BVID/GC030/. VLBI positions of these sources will be measured accurately in future astrometric experiments.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/I/251
- Title:
- VLBI International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF)
- Short Name:
- I/251
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- of the 1998AJ....116..516M paper: A quasi-inertial reference frame is defined based on the radio positions of 212 extragalactic sources distributed over the entire sky. The positional accuracy of these sources is better than about 1mas in both coordinates. The radio positions are based upon a general solution for all applicable dual-frequency 2.3 and 8.4GHz Mark III very long baseline interferometry data available through the middle of 1995, consisting of 1.6 million pairs of group delay and phase delay rate observations. Positions and details are also given for an additional 396 objects that either need further observation or are currently unsuitable for the definition of a high-accuracy reference frame. The final orientation of the frame axes has been obtained by a rotation of the positions into the system of the International Celestial Reference System and is consistent with the FK5 J2000.0 optical system, within the limits of the link accuracy. The resulting International Celestial Reference Frame has been adopted by the International Astronomical Union as the fundamental celestial reference frame, replacing the FK5 optical frame as of 1998 January 1.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/466/63
- Title:
- VLBI observations of BL Lac objects
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/466/63
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present EVN observations of seven BL Lac objects selected from the RGB sample. To investigate the intrinsic radiation property of BL Lac objects, we estimated the Doppler factor with the VLA or MERLIN core and the total 408MHz luminosity for a sample of 170 BL Lac objects. The intrinsic (comoving) synchrotron peak frequency was then calculated by using the estimated Doppler factor. Assuming a Lorentz factor of 5, the viewing angle of jets was constrained. The high-resolution VLBI images of seven sources all show a core-jet structure. We estimated the proper motions of three sources with the VLBI archive data, and find that the apparent speed increases with the distance of components to the core for all of them.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/127/3609
- Title:
- VLBI observations of southern ICRF sources
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/127/3609
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present 8.4GHz very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of 69 southern hemisphere extragalactic sources in the International Celestial Reference Frame. These are the first in a series of observations intended to image all such sources at milliarcsecond resolution in order to determine their continued suitability for reference-frame use based on intrinsic structure. We use the resultant images to calculate a core fraction, that is, the ratio of core flux density to total flux density, for all observed sources. The resulting distribution, with a mean value of 0.83, suggests that most sources are relatively compact. However, just over half the observed sources show significant extended emission in the form of multiple compact components. These sources are probably poorly suited for high-accuracy reference-frame use unless intrinsic structure and potential variability can be taken into account. Our observations represent the first large, comprehensive VLBI imaging survey in the southern hemisphere, significantly extending the existing limited VLBI surveys and, along with some well-known objects, containing many sources that have never been imaged at milliarcsecond resolution. The overlap with Very Long Baseline Array images of sources between 0{deg} and -35{deg} declination helps determine the limits to imaging with the southern hemisphere-accessible telescopes.