Published February 2022 | Version Accepted Version + Published
Journal Article Open

Apertif: Phased array feeds for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. System overview and performance characteristics

  • 1. ROR icon Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
  • 2. ROR icon University of Groningen
  • 3. ROR icon Ruhr University Bochum
  • 4. ROR icon University of Amsterdam
  • 5. ROR icon Australia Telescope National Facility
  • 6. ROR icon University of Sydney
  • 7. ROR icon Netherlands eScience Center
  • 8. ROR icon University of Cape Town
  • 9. ROR icon National Institute for Subatomic Physics
  • 10. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 11. ROR icon South African Radio Astronomy Observatory
  • 12. ROR icon Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • 13. ROR icon Chalmers University of Technology
  • 14. ROR icon Rhodes University
  • 15. ROR icon University of Bonn
  • 16. ROR icon Radboud University Nijmegen
  • 17. ROR icon Astro Space Center
  • 18. ROR icon Virginia Tech
  • 19. ROR icon Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari
  • 20. ROR icon Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe
  • 21. ROR icon McGill University
  • 22. ROR icon West Virginia University
  • 23. ROR icon University of Manchester
  • 24. ROR icon New York University Abu Dhabi
  • 25. ROR icon University of Oslo

Abstract

We describe the APERture Tile In Focus (Apertif) system, a phased array feed (PAF) upgrade of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope that transforms this telescope into a high-sensitivity, wide-field-of-view L-band imaging and transient survey instrument. Using novel PAF technology, up to 40 partially overlapping beams are formed on the sky simultaneously, significantly increasing the survey speed of the telescope. With this upgraded instrument, an imaging survey covering an area of 2300 deg² is being performed that will deliver both continuum and spectral line datasets, of which the first data have been publicly released. In addition, a time domain transient and pulsar survey covering 15 000 deg² is in progress. An overview of the Apertif science drivers, hardware, and software of the upgraded telescope is presented, along with its key performance characteristics.

Additional Information

© ESO 2022. Received 7 July 2021 / Accepted 17 September 2021. This work makes use of data from the Apertif system installed at the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope owned by ASTRON. ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, is an institute of the Dutch Research Council NWO (De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek). This work is part of the research programme "Investeringen NWO-groot" with project numbers 175.010.2005.015 and 175.010.2009.012, which are (partly) financed by NWO. UniBoard was a Joint Research Activity in the EC-funded RadioNet FP7 programme, under contract no. 227290, and was led by the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE). Optimisations of the board for production were funded by Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN). The integration of multiple UniBoards into one mechanical construction was realized through the ExBox project, funded by NWO. MV acknowledges support by NWO through Vici grant 639.043.511. EAKA is supported by the WISE research programme, which is financed by NWO. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013), through ERC Grant Agreement No. 291531 ('HIStoryNU', PI: JMvdH), ERC Advanced Grant RADIOLIFE-320745 (PI: RM) and ERC Grant Agreement No. 617199 ('ALERT', PI: JvL). JvL further acknowledges funding from Vici research programme 'ARGO' with project number 639.043.815, financed by NWO. EP acknowledges funding from an NWO Veni Fellowship. SMS was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under grant number NNX17AL74G issued through the NNH16ZDA001N Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP). DV acknowledges support from the Netherlands eScience Center (NLeSC) under grant ASDI.15.406

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Published - aa41739-21.pdf

Accepted Version - 2109.14234.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
113473
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20220216-572639625

Related works

Funding

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
175.010.2005.015
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
175.010.2009.012
European Research Council (ERC)
227290
Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN)
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
639.043.511
European Research Council (ERC)
291531
European Research Council (ERC)
320745
European Research Council (ERC)
617199
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
639.043.815
NASA
NNX17AL74G
NASA
NNH16ZDA001N
Netherlands eScience Center
ASDI.15.406

Dates

Created
2022-02-16
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2022-02-16
Created from EPrint's last_modified field