The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder: Performance of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array

McConnell, D.; Allison, J. R.; Bannister, K. W.; Bell, M. E.; Bignall, H. E.; Chippendale, A. P.; Edwards, P. G.; Harvey-Smith, Lisa; Hegarty, Sarah; Heywood, Ian; Hotan, A. W.; Indermuehle, B.; Lenc, E.; Marvil, J.; Popping, Attila; Raja, Wasim; Reynolds, John; Sault, R. J.; Serra, P.; Voronkov, Maxim; Whiting, M. T.; Amy, S. W.; Axtens, P.; Ball, Lewis; Bateman, T.; Bock, Douglas C.-J.; Bolton, R.; Brodrick, David; Brown, Andrew; Bunton, John D.; Cheng, Wan; Cornwell, T. J.; DeBoer, D.; Feain, Ilana; Gough, R. G.; Gupta, N.; Guzman, J. C.; Hampson, G.A.; Hay, Stuart G.; Hayman, Douglas B.; Hoyle, Simon; Humphreys, B.; Jacka, C.; Jackson, C. A.; Jackson, Stuart D.; Jeganathan, K.; Joseph, J.; Koribalski, B. S.; Leach, M.; Lensson, E.; Macleod, A.; Mackay, S.; Marquarding, M.; McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Mirtschin, P.; Mitchell, D. A.; Neuhold, S.; Ng, A.; Norris, R. P.; Pearce, Sarah E.; Qiao, R. Y.; Schinckel, A. E. T.; Shields, M.; Shimwell, T. W.; Storey, Michelle C.; Troup, E. R.; Turner, B. E.; Tuthill, J.; Tzioumis, A. K.; Wark, R. M.; Westmeier, T.; Wilson, Carol; Wilson, Thomas L.

doi:10.1017/pasa.2016.37

Cited by 117 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The values of the SEFD calculated from equation (12) for each antenna/beam are shown in Figure 12 (left), plotted against the fitted mean sensitivity output by FREDDA from ASKAP observations (equation (1)). The lowest SEFDs (obtained for the central beams) are approximately equal to both preliminary SEFD measurements for ASKAP MkII PAFs of 2000 Jy (Chippendale et al, 2015) and optimal values of MkI PAFs (McConnell et al, 2016). Beam 35, which detected no pulses when passed through FREDDA (hence σ B1641 = 0), was found to have a high, but not infinite, SEFD ranging from 3700-6100 Jy when analysed with DSPSR.…”

Section: Absolute Normalisationsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…While the overlapping beams reduce the total effective survey area for the closepack36 configuration, they also reduce the importance of sidelobes in rate calculations, and increase the likelihood of a multibeam detection. The process for forming ASKAP beams is described in McConnell et al (2016); this results in minor variations in beam fidelity every time beamforming is performed, while minor variations in gain and phase from each digital receiver port will vary the beamshape with time once beamforming has been performed. Observations have used a contiguous bandwidth, from 1128 to 1464 MHz, dividing into 336 1 MHz channels.…”

Section: Observation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The performance and calibration of the CRAFT fly’s eye fast radio burst survey

James

Bannister

Macquart

et al. 2019

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

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Since January 2017, the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients survey (CRAFT) has been utilising commissioning antennas of the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) to survey for fast radio bursts (FRBs) in fly's eye mode. This is the first extensive astronomical survey using phased array feeds (PAFs). A total of 23 FRBs have been reported -here, we present a calculation of the sensitivity and total exposure of the survey that detected the first 20 of these bursts, using the pulsars B1641-45 (J1644-4559) and B0833-45 (J0835-4510, i.e. Vela) as calibrators. The design of the survey allows us to benchmark effects due to PAF beamshape, antenna-dependent system noise, radio-frequency interference, and fluctuations during commissioning on timescales from one hour to a year. Observation time, solid-angle, and search efficiency are calculated as a function of FRB fluence threshold. Using this metric, effective survey exposures and sensitivities are calculated as a function of the source counts distribution. Statistical 'stat' and systematics 'sys' effects are treated separately. The implied FRB rate is significantly lower than the 37 sky −1 day −1 calculated using nominal exposures and sensitivities for this same sample by Shannon et al. (2018). At the Euclidean power-law index of −1.5, the rate is 12.7 +3.3 −2.2 (sys) ± 3.6 (stat) sky −1 day −1 above a threshold of 56.6 ± 6.3 (sys) Jy ms, while for the best-fit index for this sample of −2.2, it is 20.7 +2.1 −1.7 (sys) ± 5.8 (stat) sky −1 day −1 above a threshold of 40.4 ± 1.2 (sys) Jy ms. This strongly suggests that these calculations be performed for other FRB-hunting experiments, allowing meaningful comparisons to be made between them.

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Section: Absolute Normalisationsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Observation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

The performance and calibration of the CRAFT fly’s eye fast radio burst survey

James

Bannister

Macquart

et al. 2019

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…9. The weights are calibrated using a maximum signal-to-noise (S/N) algorithm and the Sun as a reference source (Hotan et al 2014;McConnell et al 2016, and references therein). The observations were conducted in an eight-telescope fly's-eye mode, with each pointing in a different direction, yielding 8×36 beams on the sky.…”

Section: Data Capture and Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Detection of an Extremely Bright Fast Radio Burst in a Phased Array Feed Survey

Bannister

Shannon

Macquart

et al. 2017

ApJL

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168

129

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We report the detection of an ultra-bright fast radio burst (FRB) from a modest, 3.4-day pilot survey with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The survey was conducted in a wide-field fly's-eye configuration using the phased-array-feed technology deployed on the array to instantaneously observe an effective area of 160 deg 2 , and achieve an exposure totaling 13200 deg 2 hr . We constrain the position of FRB170107 to a region ¢´¢ 8 8 in size (90% containment) and its fluence to be 58±6 Jy ms. The spectrum of the burst shows a sharp cutoff above 1400 MHz, which could be due to either scintillation or an intrinsic feature of the burst. This confirms the existence of an ultra-bright (>20 Jy ms) population of FRBs.

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“…The SMC was observed as part of the ASKAP commissioning and early science verification (DeBoer et al 2009;Hotan et al 2014;McConnell et al 2016). Here, we present observations at 960 MHz taken on 2017 September 3 (Figure 1;using 12 antennas: 2,3,4,6,12,14,16,17,19,27,28,and 30), and at 1320 MHz on 2017 November 3 -5 (Figure 2,using 16 antennas: 1,2,3,4,5,6,10,12,14,16,17,19,24,27,28,30).…”

Section: Data Observing and Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ASKAP EMU Early Science Project: radio continuum survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Joseph

Filipović

Crawford

et al. 2019

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present two new radio continuum images from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) survey in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). These images are part of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) Early Science Project (ESP) survey of the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. The two new source lists produced from these images contain radio continuum sources observed at 960 MHz (4489 sources) and 1320 MHz (5954 sources) with a bandwidth of 192 MHz and beam sizes of 30.0 ×30.0 and 16.3 ×15.1 , respectively. The median Root Mean Squared (RMS) noise values are 186 µJy beam −1 (960 MHz) and 165 µJy beam −1 (1320 MHz). To create point source catalogues, we use these two source lists, together with the previously published Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) point source catalogues to estimate spectral indices for the whole population of radio point sources found in the survey region. Combining our ASKAP catalogues with these radio continuum surveys, we found 7736 point-like sources in common over an area of 30 deg 2 . In addition, we report the detection of two new, low surface brightness supernova remnant candidates in the SMC. The high sensitivity of the new ASKAP ESP survey also enabled us to detect the bright end of the SMC planetary nebula sample, with 22 out of 102 optically known planetary nebulae showing point-like radio continuum emission. Lastly, we present several morphologically interesting background radio galaxies.

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The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder: Performance of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array

Cited by 117 publications

References 36 publications

The performance and calibration of the CRAFT fly’s eye fast radio burst survey

The performance and calibration of the CRAFT fly’s eye fast radio burst survey

The Detection of an Extremely Bright Fast Radio Burst in a Phased Array Feed Survey

The ASKAP EMU Early Science Project: radio continuum survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

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