e-MERLIN Development 2018-2023

e-MERLIN 发展 2018-2023

• 批准号: ST/R001537/1
• 负责人: Michael Garrett
• 金额: $ 76.23万
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FR001537%2F1
• 关键词: MERLIN; Development; 2018; 2023

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.

e-MERLIN是一个现有的干涉仪阵列，由7个在厘米波长工作的射电望远镜组成。这是一个主要的国际设施，提供具有微Jy灵敏度的亚角秒分辨率的天空图像。这个分辨率对于分辨银河系和银河系外尺度的结构来说是一个非常好的“甜点”。该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的Jodrell Bank天文台（JBO）根据与STFC的合同运营。这项建议旨在确保e-MERLIN在下一个十年中继续处于射电天文学的最前沿。我们尤其希望：（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营，保持目前充满活力和活力的科学计划，（ii）着手实施雄心勃勃但模块化和非破坏性的升级计划，大大提高e-MERLIN的能力，并确保英国天文学家在未来十年内保持天体物理学的前沿地位。我们还建议通过重新使用作为英国在SKA设计和建造阶段大量投资的一部分而开发的关键技术和软件工具来升级e-MERLIN。这不仅将改变望远镜本身的功能，而且从用户的角度来看，它还将赋予它与SKA 1-mid相同的“外观和感觉”。这些改进将为英国天文学家提供显着的竞争优势，因为他们准备充分利用SKA，因为它将在下一个十年的后半期进入运行阶段。2012-2013年AAP报告也承认了e-MERLIN的战略意义，强调了其在英国未来开发SKA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合作伙伴中的知名度，并与新的SKA全球总部（也位于JBO）一起。曼彻斯特大学有一个宏伟的愿景，其中天文台，SKA组织总部和Jodrell Bank发现中心（JBDC）-三个高度互补的世界领先机构-加强了彼此的有效性和声望。随着拟议在射电天文学校园增加工业/商业存在，英国可以充分利用其大量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。拟议的升级路径将提供1-25 GHz的近连续频率覆盖。在波段的较低部分，它将使e-MERLIN阵列的视场增加几乎一个数量级。通过加宽接收器/数据链路的带宽和引进新的望远镜，如康沃尔郡的Goonhilly望远镜，我们将使阵列的分辨率增加一倍，并大大提高4 GHz以上频率的灵敏度和孔径覆盖范围。将标志性的76米洛弗尔望远镜与具有相控阵馈电（PAF）的e-MERLIN无缝结合，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脉冲星/瞬态仪器。最后但并非最不重要的是，SKA 1-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的科学开发做好准备。通过将e-MERLIN的运营扩展到下一个十年，并致力于在当前投资的基础上进行升级，该提案旨在使英国在未来几十年内保持在天体物理学研究的前沿。

项目成果

LeMMINGs V. Nuclear activity and bulge properties: A detailed multi-component decomposition of e -MERLIN Palomar galaxies with HST

LeMMINGs V. 核活动和核球特性：利用 HST 对 e-MERLIN Palomar 星系进行详细的多组分分解

• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202345913
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• 影响因子: 6.5
• 作者: Dullo B

Sub-kpc radio jets in the brightest central galaxy of the cool-core galaxy cluster RXJ1720.1+2638

冷核星系团 RXJ1720.1 2638 最亮中央星系中的 sub-kpc 射电喷流

• DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slac160
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Letters
• 作者: Perrott Y

Revealing dual radio sources in a sub-kpc-scale binary active galactic nucleus candidate

揭示亚 kpc 规模的双星活跃星系核候选物中的双射电源

• DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slac018
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Letters
• 作者: Brooks J

Filming the evolution of symbiotic novae with VLBI: the 2021 explosion of RS Oph

用 VLBI 拍摄共生新星的演化：2021 年 RS Oph 的爆炸

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: 15th European VLBI Network Mini-Symposium and Users' Meeting
• 作者: Giroletti M.

Radio jets in NGC 1068 with e -MERLIN and VLA: structure and morphology

NGC 1068 中带有 e-MERLIN 和 VLA 的射电喷流：结构和形态

• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad3864
• 发表时间: 2024
• 期刊: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• 影响因子: 4.8
• 作者: Mutie I