A Measurement of Source Noise at Low Frequency: Implications for Modern Interferometers [IMA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2101.11851


We report on the detection of source noise in the time domain at 162MHz with the Murchison Widefield Array. During the observation the flux of our target source Virgo A (M87) contributes only $\sim$1\% to the total power detected by any single antenna, thus this source noise detection is made in an intermediate regime, where the source flux detected by the entire array is comparable with the noise from a single antenna. The magnitude of source noise detected is precisely in line with predictions. We consider the implications of source noise in this moderately strong regime on observations with current and future instruments.

Read this paper on arXiv…

J. Morgan and R. Ekers
Fri, 29 Jan 21
10/66

Comments: 8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ‘Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia’