MeerKAT Array Research Articles

The SKARAB Board in the Framework of Single-Dish Radio Astronomy

The Square Kilometer Array Reconfigurable Application Board (SKARAB) is a Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA-based platform designed for the MeerKAT array, to be used for both F- and X/B-engines. The MeerKAT F-engine receives digitized data, thus no samplers are required on the SKARAB-based platform. Among the alternative options available, a high-performing ADC mezzanine board can be used in conjunction with the SKARAB, which allows four 1.4-GHz-wide input channels to be digitized and processed. In this paper, we outline how the SKARAB has been successfully used for single-dish applications including imaging, spectroscopy, and spectro-polarimetry.

Looking at the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array: Discovery of a Luminous OH Megamaser at z > 0.5

In the local universe, OH megamasers (OHMs) are detected almost exclusively in infrared-luminous galaxies, with a prevalence that increases with IR luminosity, suggesting that they trace gas-rich galaxy mergers. Given the proximity of the rest frequencies of OH and the hyperfine transition of neutral atomic hydrogen (H i), radio surveys to probe the cosmic evolution of H i in galaxies also offer exciting prospects for exploiting OHMs to probe the cosmic history of gas-rich mergers. Using observations for the Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) deep H i survey, we report the first untargeted detection of an OHM at z > 0.5, LADUMA J033046.20−275518.1 (nicknamed “Nkalakatha”). The host system, WISEA J033046.26−275518.3, is an infrared-luminous radio galaxy whose optical redshift z ≈ 0.52 confirms the MeerKAT emission-line detection as OH at a redshift z OH = 0.5225 ± 0.0001 rather than H i at lower redshift. The detected spectral line has 18.4σ peak significance, a width of 459 ± 59 km s−1, and an integrated luminosity of (6.31 ± 0.18 [statistical] ± 0.31 [systematic]) × 103 L ⊙, placing it among the most luminous OHMs known. The galaxy’s far-infrared luminosity L FIR = (1.576 ±0.013) × 1012 L ⊙ marks it as an ultraluminous infrared galaxy; its ratio of OH and infrared luminosities is similar to those for lower-redshift OHMs. A comparison between optical and OH redshifts offers a slight indication of an OH outflow. This detection represents the first step toward a systematic exploitation of OHMs as a tracer of galaxy growth at high redshifts.

Looking at the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array: Discovery of a Luminous OH Megamaser at z > 0.5

Looking at the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array: Discovery of a Luminous OH Megamaser at z > 0.5

A MeerKAT 1.28 GHz Atlas of Southern Sources in the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample

Abstract The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample (RBGS) comprises galaxies and unresolved mergers stronger than S = 5.24 Jy at λ = 60 μm with Galactic latitudes ∣b∣ > 5°. Nearly all are dusty star-forming galaxies whose radio continuum and far-infrared luminosities are proportional to their current rates of star formation. We used the MeerKAT array of 64 dishes to make 5 × 3 minutes snapshot observations at ν = 1.28 GHz covering all 298 southern (J2000 δ < 0°) RBGS sources identified with external galaxies. The resulting images have θ ≈ 7.″5 FWHM resolution and rms fluctuations σ ≈ 20 μJy beam−1 ≈ 0.26 K low enough to reveal even faint disk emission. The rms position uncertainties are σ α ≈ σ δ ≈ 1″ relative to accurate near-infrared positions, and the image dynamic ranges are DR ≳ 104: 1. Cropped MeerKAT images of all 298 southern RBGS sources are available in FITS format from 10.48479/dnt7-6q05.

The redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation in SIMBA

ABSTRACT The baryonic Tully–Fisher relation (BTFR) is an important tool for constraining galaxy evolution models. As 21-cm H i emission studies have been largely restricted to low redshifts, the redshift evolution of the BTFR is less studied. The upcoming LADUMA survey (Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array) will address this. As preparation for LADUMA, we use the SIMBA hydrodynamical galaxy formation simulation from the SIMBA-hires $(25\, h^{-1}{\rm Mpc})^3$ run to generate rotational velocity measures from galaxy rotation curves (Vflat) and H i spectral line profile widths (W50 and W20) at three different redshifts (z = 0, 0.5, and 1). Using these measures, together with the dark matter velocity dispersion and halo mass, we consider the redshift evolution of the BTFR of SIMBA galaxies. We find that LADUMA will be successful in detecting weak redshift evolution of the BTFR, provided that auxiliary data are used to distinguish galaxies with discy morphologies. W20 spectral line widths give lower scatter and more pronounced redshift evolution compared to W50. We also compare these rotational velocity measures to the dark matter velocity dispersion across redshift and galaxy morphology. We find weak redshift evolution between rotational velocity and the dark matter halo mass, and provide fits for estimating a galaxy’s dark matter halo mass from H i spectral line widths. This study with SIMBA showcases the importance of upcoming, deep Square Kilometre Array pathfinder surveys such as LADUMA, and provides predictions to compare with the redshift evolution of the BTFR and galaxy dark matter content from H i rotational velocity measures.

OH Megamasers in H i Surveys: Forecasts and a Machine-learning Approach to Separating Disks from Mergers

Abstract OH megamasers (OHMs) are rare, luminous masers found in gas-rich major galaxy mergers. In untargeted neutral hydrogen (H i) emission-line surveys, spectroscopic redshifts are necessary to differentiate the λ rest = 18 cm masing lines produced by OHMs from H i 21 cm lines. Next-generation H i surveys will detect an unprecedented number of galaxies, most of which will not have spectroscopic redshifts. We present predictions for the numbers of OHMs that will be detected and the potential “contamination” they will impose on H i surveys. We examine the Looking at the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA), a single-pointing deep-field survey reaching redshift z H I = 1.45, as well as potential future surveys with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) that would observe large portions of the sky out to redshift z H I = 1.37. We predict that LADUMA will potentially double the number of known OHMs, creating an expected contamination of 1.0% of the survey’s H i sample. Future SKA H i surveys are expected to see up to 7.2% OH contamination. To mitigate this contamination, we present methods to distinguish H i and OHM host populations without spectroscopic redshifts using near- to mid-IR photometry and a k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm. Using our methods, nearly 99% of OHMs out to redshift z OH ∼ 1.0 can be correctly identified. At redshifts out to z OH ∼ 2.0, 97% of OHMs can be identified. The discovery of these high-redshift OHMs will be valuable for understanding the connection between extreme star formation and galaxy evolution.

Eight new millisecond pulsars from the first MeerKAT globular cluster census

ABSTRACT We have used the central 44 antennas of the new 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope array to conduct a deep search for new pulsars in the core of nine globular clusters (GCs). This has led to the discovery of eight new millisecond pulsars in six different clusters. Two new binaries, 47 Tuc ac and 47 Tuc ad, are eclipsing ‘spiders’, featuring compact orbits (≲0.32 d), very low mass companions, and regular occultations of their pulsed emission. The other three new binary pulsars (NGC 6624G, M62G, and Ter 5 an) are in wider (>0.7 d) orbits, with companions that are likely to be white dwarfs or neutron stars. NGC 6624G has a large eccentricity of e ≃ 0.38, which enabled us to detect the rate of advance of periastron. This suggests that the system is massive, with a total mass of Mtot = 2.65 ± 0.07 M⊙. Likewise, for Ter 5 an, with e ≃ 0.0066, we obtain Mtot = 2.97 ± 0.52 M⊙. The other three new discoveries (NGC 6522D, NGC 6624H, and NGC 6752F) are faint isolated pulsars. Finally, we have used the whole MeerKAT array and synthesized 288 beams, covering an area of ∼2 arcmin in radius around the centre of NGC 6624. This has allowed us to localize many of the pulsars in the cluster, demonstrating the beamforming capabilities of the TRAPUM software backend and paving the way for the upcoming MeerKAT GC pulsar survey.

The 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 Image

We present the confusion-limited 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 image covering one primary-beam area with θ = 76 FWHM resolution and rms noise. Its J2000 center position α = 04h 13m 264, δ = −80° 00' 00'' was selected to minimize artifacts caused by bright sources. We introduce the new 64-element MeerKAT array and describe commissioning observations to measure the primary-beam attenuation pattern, estimate telescope pointing errors, and pinpoint (u, v) coordinate errors caused by offsets in frequency or time. We constructed a 1.4 GHz differential source count by combining a power-law count fit to the DEEP2 confusion P(D) distribution from 0.25 to 10 μJy with counts of individual DEEP2 sources between 10 μJy and 2.5 mJy. Most sources fainter than S ∼ 100 μJy are distant star-forming galaxies (SFGs) obeying the far-IR/radio correlation, and sources stronger than 0.25 μJy account for ∼93% of the radio background produced by SFGs. For the first time, the DEEP2 source count has reached the depth needed to reveal the majority of the star formation history of the universe. A pure luminosity evolution of the 1.4 GHz local luminosity function consistent with the Madau & Dickinson model for the evolution of SFGs based on UV and infrared data underpredicts our 1.4 GHz source count in the range .

LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

Looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA)

AbstractThe MeerKAT (64 x 13.5m dish radio interferometer) is South Africa's precursor instrument for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), exploring dish design, instrumentation, and the characteristics of a Karoo desert site and is projected to be on sky in 2016. One of two top-priority, Key Projects is a single deep field, integrating for 5000 hours total with the aim to detect neutral atomic hydrogen through its 21 cm line emission out to redshift unity and beyond. This first truly deep HI survey will help constrain fueling models for galaxy assembly and evolution. It will measure the evolution of the cosmic neutral gas density and its distribution over galaxies over cosmic time, explore evolution of the gas in galaxies, measure the Tully-Fisher relation, measure OH maser counts, and address many more topics. Here we present the observing strategy and envisaged science case for this unique deep field, which encompasses the Chandra Deep Field-South (and the footprints of GOODS, GEMS and several other surveys) to produce a singular legacy multi-wavelength data-set.