The LOFAR Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS). I. Survey description and first results
Journal
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Heald, G. H.
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Pizzo, R. F.
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Orrú, E.
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Breton, R. P.
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Carbone, D.
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Ferrari, C.
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Hardcastle, M. J.
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Jurusik, W.
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Macario, G.
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Mulcahy, D.
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Rafferty, D.
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Hamaker, J. P.
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Hessels, J. W. T.
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Hoeft, M.
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Hörandel, J.
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Holties, H. A.
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Intema, H.
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Jackson, N. J.
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Jütte, E.
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Karastergiou, A.
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Klijn, W. F. A.
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Asgekar, A.
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Kondratiev, V. I.
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Koopmans, L. V. E.
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Kuniyoshi, M.
•
Kuper, G.
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Law, C.
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van Leeuwen, J.
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Loose, M.
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Maat, P.
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Markoff, S.
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McFadden, R.
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Brentjens, M.
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McKay-Bukowski, D.
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Mevius, M.
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Miller-Jones, J. C. A.
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Morganti, R.
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Munk, H.
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Nelles, A.
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Noordam, J. E.
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Norden, M. J.
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Paas, H.
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Polatidis, A. G.
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Fallows, R. A.
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Reich, W.
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Renting, A.
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Röttgering, H.
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Schoenmakers, A.
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Schwarz, D.
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Sluman, J.
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Smirnov, O.
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Stappers, B. W.
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Steinmetz, M.
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Tagger, M.
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Frieswijk, W.
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Tang, Y.
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ter Veen, S.
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Thoudam, S.
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Vermeulen, R.
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Vocks, C.
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Vogt, C.
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Wijers, R. A. M. J.
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Wucknitz, O.
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Yatawatta, S.
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Zarka, P.
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Toribio, M. C.
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Adebahr, B.
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Arts, M.
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Bell, M. R.
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Bonafede, A.
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Bray, J.
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Broderick, J.
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Cantwell, T.
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Carroll, P.
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Cendes, Y.
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Clarke, A. O.
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Croston, J.
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Daiboo, S.
•
•
Gregson, J.
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Harwood, J.
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Hassall, T.
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Heesen, V.
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Horneffer, A.
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van der Horst, A. J.
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Iacobelli, M.
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Jelić, V.
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Jones, D.
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Kant, D.
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Kokotanekov, G.
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Martin, P.
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McKean, J. P.
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Morabito, L. K.
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Nikiel-Wroczyński, B.
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Offringa, A.
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Pandey, V. N.
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Pandey-Pommier, M.
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Pietka, M.
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Pratley, L.
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Riseley, C.
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Rowlinson, A.
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Sabater, J.
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Scaife, A. M. M.
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Scheers, L. H. A.
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Sendlinger, K.
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Shulevski, A.
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Sipior, M.
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Sobey, C.
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Stewart, A. J.
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Stroe, A.
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Swinbank, J.
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Tasse, C.
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Trüstedt, J.
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Varenius, E.
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van Velzen, S.
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Vilchez, N.
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van Weeren, R. J.
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Wijnholds, S.
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Williams, W. L.
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de Bruyn, A. G.
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Nijboer, R.
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Wise, M.
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Alexov, A.
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Anderson, J.
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Avruch, I. M.
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Beck, R.
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Bell, M. E.
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van Bemmel, I.
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Bentum, M. J.
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Best, P.
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Breitling, F.
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Brouw, W. N.
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Brüggen, M.
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Butcher, H. R.
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Ciardi, B.
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Conway, J. E.
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de Geus, E.
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de Jong, A.
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de Vos, M.
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Deller, A.
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Dettmar, R. -J.
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Duscha, S.
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Eislöffel, J.
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Engels, D.
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Falcke, H.
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Fender, R.
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Garrett, M. A.
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Grießmeier, J.
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Gunst, A. W.
Description
We thank the anonymous referee for comments that have improved this paper. LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation under a joint scientific policy. We acknowledge financial support from the BQR program of Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur and from the French A.S. SKA-LOFAR. C.F. and G.M. acknowledge financial support by the “ Agence Nationale de la Recherche ” through grant ANR-09-JCJC-0001-01. D.C., Y.C., A.J.v.d.H., A.R., and J.S. acknowledge support from the European Research Council via Advanced Investigator Grant no. 247295 (PI: R. Wijers). R.P.B., J.B., T.H., A.J.S., M.P., and R.F. were funded by a European Research Council Advanced Grant 267697 “4 Pi Sky: Extreme Astrophysics with Revolutionary Radio Telescopes” (PI: R. Fender). D.M., B.A., M.R.B., A.B., F.d.G., A.H., M.I., K.S., and C.S. were supported by DFG Research Unit FOR1254 “Magnetisation of Interstellar and Intergalactic Media: The Prospects of Low-Frequency Radio Observations”.
Abstract
We present the Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS), the first northern-sky Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) imaging survey. In this introductory paper, we first describe in detail the motivation and design of the survey. Compared to previous radio surveys, MSSS is exceptional due to its intrinsic multifrequency nature providing information about the spectral properties of the detected sources over more than two octaves (from 30 to 160 MHz). The broadband frequency coverage, together with the fast survey speed generated by LOFAR's multibeaming capabilities, make MSSS the first survey of the sort anticipated to be carried out with the forthcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Two of the sixteen frequency bands included in the survey were chosen to exactly overlap the frequency coverage of large-area Very Large Array (VLA) and Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) surveys at 74 MHz and 151 MHz respectively. The survey performance is illustrated within the MSSS Verification Field (MVF), a region of 100 square degrees centered at (α,δ)J2000 = (15h,69°). The MSSS results from the MVF are compared with previous radio survey catalogs. We assess the flux and astrometric uncertainties in the catalog, as well as the completeness and reliability considering our source finding strategy. We determine the 90% completeness levels within the MVF to be 100 mJy at 135 MHz with 108″ resolution, and 550 mJy at 50 MHz with 166″ resolution. Images and catalogs for the full survey, expected to contain 150 000-200 000 sources, will be released to a public web server. We outline the plans for the ongoing production of the final survey products, and the ultimate public release of images and source catalogs.
Volume
582
Start page
A123
Issn Identifier
0004-6361
Ads BibCode
2015A&A...582A.123H
Rights
open.access
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