e-MERLIN Development 2018-2023

E-Merlin是一个现有的干涉仪阵列，由7个工作在厘米波长的射电望远镜组成。它是一家主要的国际设施，提供具有微焦耳灵敏度的亚分伯秒分辨率的天空图像。这一分辨率非常适合于分辨星系和银河系外尺度的结构。该望远镜的能力解决了STFC的许多关键科学目标，解决了从行星形成到宇宙学甚至基础物理测试的广泛不同主题。E-Merlin被正式认可为SKA(平方公里阵列)探路者，目前由曼彻斯特大学在Jodrell银行天文台(JBO)根据与STFC的合同进行操作。这项提议旨在确保e-Merlin将继续走在射电天文学的前沿，直到下一个十年。特别是，我们希望：(I)至少在未来5年(2018-2023年)内继续将望远镜作为英国的国家设施运行，保持目前充满活力的科学方案，(Ii)着手实施雄心勃勃但模块化和无破坏性的升级方案，极大地增强e-Merlin的能力，并确保英国天文学家在下一个十年一直站在天体物理学的前沿。我们还建议通过重新使用关键技术和软件工具来升级e-Merlin，这些关键技术和软件工具是英国在SKA设计和建造阶段进行大量投资的一部分。这不仅将改变望远镜本身的能力，而且从用户的角度来看，它还将赋予它与SKA1-MID相同的“外观和感觉”。这些改进将为英国天文学家提供显著的竞争优势，因为他们准备充分利用SKA，因为它将在下个十年的后五年进入运行阶段。2012-2013年AAP的报告也承认了e-Merlin的战略相关性，强调了它在英国未来开发SKA方面的重要性。增强的e-Merlin设施将明显提高英国射电天文学在SKA合作伙伴中的知名度，并与SKA新的全球总部(也位于Jbo)一起。曼彻斯特大学有一个宏伟的愿景，即天文台、SKA组织总部和Jodrell银行发现中心(JBDC)-这三个具有高度互补性的世界领先机构-加强了对方的有效性和声望。通过提议在这个射电天文园区增加一个工业/商业机构，英国可以充分利用其对SKA的巨额投资。这项建议在很大程度上是由社区主导和科学驱动的--它是在与e-Merlin用户社区本身直接协商和参与的基础上制定的。拟议的升级路径将提供从1-25 GHz的近乎连续的频率覆盖。在波段的较低部分，它将使e-Merlin阵列的视场增加近一个数量级。通过宽频带接收器/数据链路和引入新的望远镜，如康沃尔的Goonhilly望远镜，我们将把阵列的分辨率提高一倍，并在4 GHz以上的频率下极大地提高灵敏度和孔径覆盖范围。将标志性的76米长的Lovell望远镜无缝地结合到具有相控阵馈电的e-Merlin中，还将允许开发一种非成像模式，将整个阵列波束形成为高灵敏度的脉冲星/瞬变仪器。最后但并非最不重要的一点是，SKA1-MID用户界面、软件流水线和最先进的处理算法的引入将为下一代天文学家为未来对SKA的科学开发做好完美的准备。通过将e-Merlin的运营延长到下一个十年，并承诺在现有投资的基础上实施升级计划，该提议旨在未来几十年内使英国保持在天体物理学研究的前沿。

e-MERLIN is an existing interferometer array composed of 7 radio telescopes operating at cm-wavelengths. It is a major international facility that provides subarcsecond resolution images of the sky with microJy sensitivity. This resolution is very much a "sweet spot" for resolving structures on galactic and extra-galactic scales. The capabilities of the telescope address many of STFC's key science objectives, tackling a wide-range of different topics - from planet formation through to cosmology and even tests of fundamental physics. e-MERLIN is formally recognised as an SKA (Square Kilometre Array) Pathfinder, and is currently operated from Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) by the University of Manchester, under a contract with STFC. This proposal aims to ensure that e-MERLIN will continue to be at the forefront of radio astronomy well into the next decade. In particular, we wish to: (i) continue operations of the telescope as a UK national facility for at least the next 5 years (2018-2023), maintaining the current dynamic and vibrant science programme, (ii) embark on an ambitious but modular and non-disruptive upgrade programme, greatly enhancing e-MERLIN's capabilities and ensuring that UK astronomers remain at the forefront of astrophysics well into the next decade. We also propose to upgrade e-MERLIN by re-using key technologies and software tools developed as part of the UK's substantial investment in the SKA Design and Construction stage. This will not only transform the capabilities of the telescope itself but from a users perspective it will also give it the same "look and feel" as SKA1-mid. These improvements will provide UK astronomers with a significant competitive advantage as they prepare to fully exploit the SKA as it enters its operational phase sometime in the second half of the next decade. The strategic relevance of e-MERLIN was also recognised in the 2012-2013 AAP report, highlighting its importance in the UK's future exploitation of the SKA. The enhanced e-MERLIN facility will visibly raise the profile of UK radio astronomy amongst the SKA partners, and alongside the new SKA global Headquarters (also located at JBO). The University of Manchester has a grand vision in which the Observatory, the SKA Organisation HQ and the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre (JBDC) - three highly complementary world-leading institutions - reinforce the effectiveness and prestige of the other. With the proposed addition of an industrial/business presence on this radio astronomy campus, the UK can fully capitalise on its substantial SKA investment. This proposal is very much community led and science driven - it has been developed in direct consultation and engagement with the e-MERLIN user community itself. The proposed upgrade path will provide near continuous frequency coverage from 1-25 GHz. At the lower part of the band it will increase the e-MERLIN array's field of view by almost an order of magnitude. By broad banding the receivers/data links and introducing new telescopes such as the Goonhilly telescope in Cornwall, we will double the resolution of the array and greatly improve the sensitivity and aperture coverage at frequencies beyond 4 GHz. The seamless incorporation of the iconic 76-metre Lovell Telescope into e-MERLIN with a phased array feed (PAF) will also permit the development of a non-imaging mode that would beam-form the full array into a highly sensitive pulsar/transient instrument. And last but not least, the introduction of SKA1-mid user interfaces, software pipelines and state-of-the-art processing algorithms will perfectly prepare the next generation of astronomers for the future scientific exploitation of the SKA. By extending e-MERLIN operations well into the next decade, and committing to an upgrade programme that builds on current investments, this proposal aims to keep the UK at the forefront of astrophysics research for decades to come.