Very Long Baseline Interferometer Research Articles

MASSES OF NEARBY SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES WITH VERY LONG BASELINE INTERFEROMETRY

Dynamical mass measurements to date have allowed determinations of the mass M and the distance D of a number of nearby supermassive black holes. In the case of Sgr A*, these measurements are limited by a strong correlation between the mass and distance scaling roughly as M ~ D^2. Future very-long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations will image a bright and narrow ring surrounding the shadow of a supermassive black hole, if its accretion flow is optically thin. In this paper, we explore the prospects of reducing the correlation between mass and distance with the combination of dynamical measurements and VLBI imaging of the ring of Sgr A*. We estimate the signal to noise ratio of near-future VLBI arrays that consist of five to six stations, and we simulate measurements of the mass and distance of Sgr A* using the expected size of the ring image and existing stellar ephemerides. We demonstrate that, in this best-case scenario, VLBI observations at 1 mm can improve the error on the mass by a factor of about two compared to the results from the monitoring of stellar orbits alone. We identify the additional sources of uncertainty that such imaging observations have to take into account. In addition, we calculate the angular diameters of the bright rings of other nearby supermassive black holes and identify the optimal targets besides Sgr A* that could be imaged by a ground-based VLBI array or future space-VLBI missions allowing for refined mass measurements.

A DEEP RADIO SURVEY OF HARD STATE AND QUIESCENT BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARIES

We have conducted a deep radio survey of a sample of black hole X-ray binaries in the hard and quiescent states, to determine whether any systems were sufficiently bright for astrometric follow-up with high-sensitivity very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) arrays. The one hard-state system, Swift J1753.5-0127, was detected at a level of 0.5 mJy/beam. All eleven quiescent systems were not detected. In the three cases with the highest predicted quiescent radio brightnesses (GRO J0422+32, XTE J1118+480, and GRO J1655-40), the new capabilities of the Expanded Very Large Array were used to reach noise levels as low as 2.6 microJy/beam. None of the three sources were detected, to 3-sigma upper limits of 8.3, 7.8, and 14.2 microJy/beam, respectively. These observations represent the most stringent constraints to date on quiescent radio emission from black hole X-ray binaries. The uncertainties in the source distances, quiescent X-ray luminosities at the times of the observations, and in the power-law index of the empirical correlation between radio and X-ray luminosities, make it impossible to determine whether these three sources are significantly less luminous in the radio band than expected. Thus it is not clear whether that correlation holds all the way down to quiescence for all black hole X-ray binaries.

An RFI investigation for setting up a VLBI station below 2.8 GHz in Malaysia

In this paper, we investigated the radio frequency interference (RFI) that future Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observations in Malaysia may encounter. Four frequency windows below 2.8 GHz were chosen for this study and their spectra were measured at four sites. The frequency windows are 322–328 MHz, 608–614 MHz, 1660–1660.5 MHz and 1660.5–1668.4 MHz. The measured averaged RFI floor noise levels in these windows are −99.992 (±0.570) dBm, −99.907 (±0.639) dBm, −100.220 (±0.4941) dBm and −100.359 (±0.110) dBm, respectively. We found that only two bands below 2.8 GHz are permitted for the purpose of radio astronomy in Malaysia. They are 608–614 MHz and 1660–1660.5 MHz. The RFI levels in these permissible bands at the best site (Langkawi) were also measured and concluded to be relatively low. Main sources of RFI in these bands in Malaysia were identified. We also reviewed several current VLBI observations in these two bands.

LOCALIZING SAGITTARIUS A* AND M87 ON MICROARCSECOND SCALES WITH MILLIMETER VERY LONG BASELINE INTERFEROMETRY

ABSTRACT With the advent of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a millimeter/submillimeter very long baseline interferometer (VLBI), it has become possible to image a handful of black holes with sub-horizon resolutions. However, these images do not translate into microarcsecond absolute positions due to the lack of absolute phase information when an external phase reference is not used. Due to the short atmospheric coherence time at these wavelengths, nodding between the source and phase reference is impractical. However, here we suggest an alternative scheme which makes use of the fact that many of the VLBI stations within the EHT are arrays in their own right. With this we show that it should be possible to absolutely position the supermassive black holes at the centers of the Milky Way (Sgr A*) and M87 relative to nearby objects with precisions of roughly 1 μas. This is sufficient to detect the perturbations to Sgr A*'s position resulting from interactions with the stars and stellar-mass black holes in the Galactic cusp on year timescales, and severely constrain the astrophysically relevant parameter space for an orbiting intermediate-mass black hole, implicated in some mechanisms for producing the young massive stars in the Galactic center. For M87, it allows the registering of millimeter images, in which the black hole may be identified by its silhouette against nearby emission, and existing larger-scale radio images, eliminating present ambiguities in the nature of the radio core and inclination, opening angle, and source of the radio jet.

An accurate position for the black hole candidate XTE J1752−223: re-interpretation of the VLBI data

Using high-precision astrometric optical observations from the Walter Baade Magellan Telescope in conjunction with high-resolution very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) radio imaging with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), we have located the core of the X-ray binary system XTE J1752−223. Compact radio emission from the core was detected following the state transition from the soft to the hard X-ray state. Its position to the south-east of all previously detected jet components mandated a re-analysis of the existing VLBI data. Our analysis suggests that the outburst comprised at least two ejection events prior to 2010 February 26. No radio-emitting components were detected to the south-east of the core at any epoch, suggesting that the receding jets were Doppler-deboosted below our sensitivity limit. From the ratio of the brightness of the detected components to the measured upper limits for the receding ejecta, we constrain the jet speed β > 0.66 and the inclination angle to the line of sight θ < 49°. Assuming that the initial ejection event occurred at the transition from the hard intermediate state to the soft intermediate state, an initial period of ballistic motion followed by a Sedov phase (i.e. self-similar adiabatic expansion) appears to fit the motion of the ejecta better than a uniform deceleration model. The accurate core location can provide a long time baseline for a future proper motion determination should the system show a second outburst, providing insights into the formation mechanism of the compact object.

CONSTRAINING THE SIZE OF THE DARK REGION AROUND THE M87 BLACK HOLE BY SPACE-VLBI OBSERVATIONS

In order to examine if the next-generation space very long baseline interferometer (VLBI), such as VSOP-2 (VLBI Space Observatory Programme-2), will make it possible to obtain direct images of the accretion flow around the M87 black hole, we calculate the expected observed images by relativistic ray-tracing simulations under considerations of possible observational errors. We consider various cases of electron temperature profiles, as well various values for the distance, mass, and spin of the M87 black hole. We find it feasible to detect an asymmetric intensity profile around the black hole caused by rapid disk rotation, as long as the electron temperature does not rise steeply toward the black hole, as was predicted by the accretion disk theory and three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Further, we can detect a deficit in the observed intensity around the black hole when the apparent size of the gravitational radius is larger than ≳1.5 μas. In the cases that the inner edge of the disk is located at the radius of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO), moreover, even the black hole spin will be measured. We also estimate the required signal-to-noise ratio for achieving the scientific goals mentioned above, finding that it should be at least 10 at 22 GHz. To conclude, direct mapping observations by the next-generation space VLBI will provide us a unique opportunity to provide the best evidence for the presence of a black hole and to test the accretion disk theory.

A correlator for the quasar VLBI network

A correlator corresponding to the modern requirements for processing very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) observation data has been developed at the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAA RAS) for the Quasar VLBI network. The correlator can process data flows of up to 1 GB/s from each station. The maximum numbers of simultaneously processed stations and baselines are 6 and 15, respectively. The correlator is equipped with Mark5B playback systems, thus allowing quasi-real time VLBI session processing. The XF processing algorithm is implemented in the hardware-software correlator. Hardware is used to calculate cross-correlation functions and extract calibration signals of the picosecond-pulse generators of stations. At present, the correlator is used to process all VLBI observations of the Quasar network performed according to national programs.

THE ORIGIN OF LARGE PECULIAR MOTIONS OF STAR-FORMING REGIONS AND SPIRAL STRUCTURES OF OUR GALAXY

Recent Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observations determined the distances and proper motions of star-forming regions in spiral arms directly. They showed that star-forming regions and young stars have large peculiar motions as large as 30 km s−1 with complex structures. Such a large peculiar motion is incompatible with the prediction of the standard theory of quasi-stationary spiral arms. We use a high-resolution, self-consistent N-body+hydrodynamical simulation to explore how the spiral arms are formed and maintained, and how star-forming regions move. We found that arms are not quasi-stationary but transient and recurrent, as suggested in alternative theories of spiral structures. Because of this transient nature of the spiral arms, star-forming regions exhibit a trend of large and complex non-circular motions, which is qualitatively consistent with the VLBI observations. Owing to this large non-circular motion, a kinematically estimated gas map of our Galaxy has large systematic errors of ∼2–3 kpc in the distance from the Sun.

Imaging with the CHARA interferometer

The very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) can achieve the highest angular resolution imaging of any telescope at radio wavelengths using thousand-kilometre baselines. The deployment at the center for high angular resolution astronomy (CHARA) array of new beam combiners has enabled the imaging capabilities of the array. CHARA can now obtain images with an angular resolution similar to the VLBI but using hundred-metre baselines. This is achieved by operating the array at the shorter wavelengths of optical and infrared light. We review the successful deployment of the Michigan infrared combiner at the CHARA array and discuss some of the imaging results from this instrument.

The megamaser cosmology project. I. very long baseline interferometric observations of UGC 3789

The Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP) seeks to measure the Hubble Constant (Ho) in order to improve the extragalactic distance scale and constrain the nature of dark energy. We are searching for sources of water maser emission from AGN with sub-pc accretion disks, as in NGC 4258, and following up these discoveries with Very Long Baseline Interferometric (VLBI) imaging and spectral monitoring. Here we present a VLBI map of the water masers toward UGC 3789, a galaxy well into the Hubble Flow. We have observed masers moving at rotational speeds up to 800 km/s at radii as small as 0.08 pc. Our map reveals masers in a nearly edge-on disk in Keplerian rotation about a 10^7 Msun supermassive black hole. When combined with centripetal accelerations, obtained by observing spectral drifts of maser features (to be presented in Paper II), the UGC 3789 masers may provide an accurate determination of Ho, independent of luminosities and metallicity and extinction corrections.

Microstructure and kinematics of H2O masers in the massive star-forming region IRAS 06061+2151

We have made multi-epoch very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) observations of H 2 O maser emission in the massive star-forming region IRAS 06061+2151 with the Japanese VLBI network (JVN) from 2005 May to 2007 October. The detected maser features are distributed within a 1 x 1 arcsec 2 area (2000 x 2000 au 2 at the source position) around the ultracompact H ii region seen in radio continuum emission. The bipolar morphology and expanding motion traced through their relative proper motions indicate that they are excited by an energetic bipolar outflow. Our three-dimensional model fitting has shown that the maser kinematical structure in IRAS 06061+2151 can be explained by a biconical outflow with a large opening angle (>50°). The position angle of the flow major axis coincides very well with that of the large-scale jet seen in 2.1 μm hydrogen emission. This maser geometry indicates the existence of dual structures composed of a collimated jet and a less collimated massive molecular flow. We have also detected a large velocity gradient in the southern maser group. This can be explained by a very small (on a scale of several tens of astronomical units) and clumpy (the density contrast by an order of magnitude or more) structure of the parental cloud. Such a structure may be formed by strong instability of the shock front or splitting of the high density core.

Effects of Phase Characteristics of Telescopes on Same-Beam Differential VLBI

Phase characteristics, which are systematic phase offsets across the main beam of an actual telescope, may be a problem for achieving the same-beam differential very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) technique. This technique is essential for differential phase delay measurements such as those used in the Japanese Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) project, where the phase has to be determined to an accuracy of 0.075 radians rms. Accurate measurement and correction of phase characteristics are very important. The phase characteristics at 2.2375 and 2.2807 GHz of the 20-m and 10-m telescopes at Mizusawa were measured to an error of approximately 0.04 radians rms. The phase characteristics were 0.06 radians rms for the 20-m and 0.055 radians rms for the 10-m telescopes in the main beams, and the post-fit residuals decreased to 0.03 and 0.04 radians rms, respectively, after correcting by using quadratic formulas. These results confirmed the effectiveness of the same-beam differential VLBI technique for VLBI observations of SELENE

Multi-epoch VLBA observations of 3C 66A

We present the results of six-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of 3C 66A. The high-resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) maps obtained at multi-frequency (2.3, 8.4, and 22.2 GHz) simultaneously enabled us to identify the brightest compact component with the core. We find that the spectrum of the core can be reasonably fitted by the synchrotron self-absorption model. Our VLBA maps show that the jet of 3C 66A has two bendings at about 1.2 and 4 mas from the core. We also give possible identifications of our jet components with the components in previous VLBA observations by analysing their proper motions. We find consistent differences of the position from the core in one component between different frequencies at six epochs.

Quasi-simultaneous five-frequency VLBA observations of PKS 0528+134

We present results of Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of PKS 0528+134 at five frequencies (2.3, 5.0, 8.4, 15.4, and 22.2 GHz). These quasi-simultaneous data enable us to study the spectral distribution of Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) components for the first time in this highly variable source, from which the central compact core is identified. Our observations indicate that there are two bendings for the jet motion at parsec scale. We provide an approximate spatial fit to the curved jet trajectory using the Steffen et al. (\cite{Steffen95}) helical model. We further investigate the proper motions of three jet components, which all show superluminal motion. At high frequencies (15.4 and 22.2 GHz) we detected a new component, which is estimated to be related to a radio burst peaking at about 2000.

Detection of phase disturbances of free core nutation of the Earth and their concurrence with geomagnetic jerks

Abstract We detected phase disturbances of the Free Core Nutation (FCN) of the Earth directly from the analysis of the Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observation of the Earth rotation for the period 1984–2003 by applying the Weighted Wavelet Z-Transform (WWZ) method and the Short-time Periodogram with the Gabor function (SPG) method. During the period, the FCN had two significant phase disturbances in 1992 and 1998. These epochs coincide with the reported occurrence of geomagnetic jerks.

Spatial and temporal properties of AKR burst emission derived from Cluster WBD VLBI studies

Abstract. We have determined the locations of over 6000 individual auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) bursts between July 2002 and May 2003 using a very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) array. Burst locations were determined by triangulation using differential delays from cross-correlated Cluster WBD waveforms. Typical position uncertainties are 200-400km in the plane normal to the source-spacecraft line, but much larger along this line. The AKR bursts are generally located above the auroral zone with a strong preference for the evening sector (22:00 MLT±2h). However, a few epochs imaged during the austral summer have loci in the daytime sector, especially near 15:00 MLT. There is marginal evidence for a small N-S hemispheric asymmetry in mean MLT and invariant latitude.

VLBI용 Q-band HEMT 수신기 개발

VLBI(Very Long Baseline Interferometer)에서 요구되는 고위상 안정도를 갖는 국부발진기를 사용하여 초저잡음 Q-band우주 전파 수신기를 개발하였다. 냉각용 HEMT 중폭기를 사용하여, 관측 주파수 범위인 420㎓에서 44㎓까지의 대역폭에서는 65K정도의 수신기 잡음 온도를 얻었으며, 390㎓ -46㎓의 대역폭에서는 l00k 이하의 잡음 온도를 얻었다. SiO분자선 관측이 주된 목적이며, 이 대역에서 얻어진 수신기 잡음온도는 독일<TEX>$.$</TEX>일본 전파천문대에서 개발된 수신기보다 우수한 성능을 나타낸다. A ultra low noise Q-band HEMT receiver for VLBI has been developed using a local oscillator with a very high phase stability. The performance of receiver was verified by comparison with receivers which were developed at the other countries. The receiver noise temperature shows 65 K in the frequency ragne from 42 ㎓ to 44 ㎓, less than 100 K from 39 ㎓ to 46 ㎓, respectively. A receiver noise temperature at SiO major line of 43㎓ which will be mainly observed by using this receiver has been optimized.

The small amplitude of density turbulence in the inner solar wind

Abstract. Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observations were made of radio sources close to the Sun, whose lines of sight pass through the inner solar wind (impact parameters 16-26 RE). Power spectra were analyzed of the interferometer phase fluctuations due to the solar wind plasma. These power spectra provide information on the level of plasma density fluctuations on spatial scales of roughly one hundred to several thousand kilometers. By specifying an outer scale to the turbulence spectrum, we can estimate the root-mean-square (rms) amplitude of the density fluctuations. The data indicate that the rms fluctuation in density is only about 10% of the mean density. This value is low, and consistent with extrapolated estimates from more distant parts of the solar wind. Physical speculations based on this result are presented.

Development of real‐time diagnostic system for VLBI using public communication lines

AbstractIn this paper, a real‐time diagnostic system for VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometer) facilities via public communication lines is proposed, and experimental results to check its diagnostic performance are described with a prototype model. In the system, narrow‐band radio waves such as beacons of geostationary satellites or emission from strong cosmic maser sources are used as test input signals, which make it possible to reduce the signal sampling rate and to transmit sampled data via public communication lines. Thus, diagnostic results can be obtained in real time. The prototype model was connected to the 6‐m radio telescope at the Kagoshima VLBI station and the 10‐m radio telescope at the Mizusawa VLBI station, and a test operation was conducted using beacon waves of satellites. It was found that the correlation results of the data transmitted in real time coincide with those obtained by the conventional procedure for VLBI, confirming the effectiveness of the system. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 84(6): 1–9, 2001

Sub-Parsec-Scale Acceleration of the Radio Jet in the Powerful Radio Galaxy NGC 6251

Abstract In order to investigate the genesis of a powerful radio jet, we have mapped the central 10 pc region of the nearby radio galaxy, NGC 6251, with a 0.2 pc resolution using Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) at two radio frequencies, 5 GHz and 15 GHz. We have found the sub-parsec-scale counterjet for the first time in this radio galaxy. This discovery allows us to investigate the jet acceleration based on the relativistic beaming model.