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。它是一个主要的国际设施，提供亚弧秒分辨率的天空图像，具有微焦灵敏度。这个分辨率是在星系和星系外尺度上解析结构的“最佳点”。望远镜的能力解决了STFC的许多关键科学目标，解决了广泛的不同主题——从行星形成到宇宙学，甚至是基础物理学的测试。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与STFC签订合同，在Jodrell Bank天文台（JBO）运行。这一提议旨在确保e-MERLIN将在未来十年继续处于射电天文学的前沿。特别是，我们希望：(i)至少在未来5年（2018-2023年）继续将望远镜作为英国国家设施运行，保持当前充满活力和活力的科学计划；（ii）开展雄心勃勃的模块化和非破坏性升级计划，大大增强e-MERLIN的能力，确保英国天文学家在未来十年仍处于天体物理学的前沿。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，这些技术和软件工具是英国在SKA设计和建设阶段的大量投资的一部分。这不仅将改变望远镜本身的能力，而且从用户的角度来看，它也将赋予它与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，因为它将在未来十年的后半期进入运行阶段。2012-2013年AAP报告也承认了e-MERLIN的战略相关性，强调了其在英国未来SKA开发中的重要性。增强的e-MERLIN设施将明显提高英国射电天文学在SKA合作伙伴中的形象，以及新的SKA全球总部（也位于JBO）。曼彻斯特大学有一个宏伟的愿景，天文台，SKA组织总部和Jodrell Bank探索中心(JBDC) -三个高度互补的世界领先机构-加强对方的效率和声望。随着这个射电天文园区的工业/商业存在的拟议增加，英国可以充分利用其大量的SKA投资。该提案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情况下制定的。拟议的升级路径将在1-25 GHz范围内提供近乎连续的频率覆盖。在较低的波段，它将增加e-MERLIN阵列的视场几乎一个数量级。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goonhills望远镜，我们将使阵列的分辨率翻倍，并大大提高灵敏度和超过4ghz频率的孔径覆盖范围。将标志性的76米洛弗尔望远镜与相控阵馈电（PAF）无缝结合到e-MERLIN中，也将允许开发一种非成像模式，该模式将波束形成完整的阵列，成为高灵敏度的脉冲星/瞬态仪器。最后但并非最不重要的是，SKA1-mid用户界面、软件管道和最先进的处理算法的引入，将为下一代天文学家未来对SKA的科学利用做好充分准备。通过将e-MERLIN的运作延伸到下一个十年，并致力于基于当前投资的升级计划，该提案旨在使英国在未来几十年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.