V2917 - Arecibo Observatory

Proposal Identification No.:
V2917
Date Received: 2014-Mar-03 11:47:10
Arecibo Observatory
William E. Gordon Telescope
Observing Time Request
COVER SHEET
Section I - General Information
Submitted for Mar 1 2014.
This proposal has not been submitted before.
Proposal Type:
General Category:
Sub-Category:
Observation Category:
Time Requested this semester:
Hours Next Semester:
Hours already used for this project:
Additional Hours required to complete project:
Minimum Useful Time:
Expected Data Storage:
Proposal Title:
Regular
VLBI
Continuum
Extragalactic
50
50
100
0
1 hour
100-500 GB
RadioAstron-Arecibo Space VLBI Survey of AGN at the Highest Angular Reso-
lutions
ABSTRACT:
We request 100 hours of Arecibo time for July 2014 - June 2015 inclusive to perform a non-imaging Space
VLBI survey of the bright AGN jet cores with RadioAstron at L and C bands. Early outcome of the
survey demonstrates promising results and a high detection rate at long Space VLBI baselines. The main
goal of this project is to study physics of AGN cores and properties of ISM by observing AGNs up to the
longest RadioAstron baseline projections and measuring the core’ s geometry and brightness temperature
while taking the influence of the inter-stellar medium into full consideration. These observations will
enable the highest resolution ever achieved in direct astronomical observations at the proposed bands.
Outreach Abstract:
This project will utilize the most sensitive ground radio telescope - Arecibo - to build the sharpest ever
ground-to-space interferometer with the Russian space radio telescope RadioAstron. Using such a unique
system, scientists will study close proximity of super-massive black holes in other galaxies and probe
physics of their bright relativistic jets and cores.
Name
Yuri Y Kovalev
Nikolai S Kardashev
Institution
Astro Space Center
of Lebedev Physical
Institute
Astro Space Center
of Lebedev Physical
Institute
E-mail
[email protected]
Phone
+7
3332167
[email protected]
+7
3332389
1
495
Student
no
495
no
Additional Authors
Kirill Sokolovskiy
<[email protected]>,
Peter Voitsik <[email protected]>,
Chris Salter <[email protected]>,
Tapasi Ghosh <[email protected]>,
Leonid Gurvits <[email protected]>,
Dave Jauncey
<[email protected]>,
Michael Bietenholz
<[email protected]>,
Robert Preston
<[email protected]>,
and the rest of the RadioAstron
AGN survey team
This work is not part of a thesis.
Remote Observing Request
Observer will travel to AO
Remote Observing
X
In Absentia (instructions to operator)
Section II - Time Request
The following times are in UT.
For these observations night-time is not needed.
Begin – End
Days Needed at
Interval–Interval
This Interval
–
–
–
–
Time Constraints (Must Be Justified in the Proposal Text)
The proposal is submitted to cover the RadioAstron AO-2 period July 2014 - June 2015 inclusive. Exact
days and time windows for requested observations depend on the accurate RadioAstron orbit prediction
which will be available with high enough accuracy by the time of scheduling the observations. Please,
contact the RadioAstron scheduler to coordinate the Arecibo and RadioAstron scheduling within mutual
visibility conditions.
Next Semester Time Request
2
Begin – End
Days Needed at
Interval–Interval
This Interval
–
–
–
–
Time Constraints (Must Be Justified in the Proposal Text)
The proposal is submitted to cover the RadioAstron AO-2 period July 2014 - June 2015 inclusive. Exact
days and time windows for requested observations depend on the accurate RadioAstron orbit prediction
which will be available with high enough accuracy by the time of scheduling the observations. Please,
contact the RadioAstron scheduler to coordinate the Arecibo and RadioAstron scheduling within mutual
visibility conditions.
Section III - Instruments Needed
L-wide
C
Atmospheric Observation Instruments:
Special Equipment or setup: MK5 VLBI disk recording
Section IV - RFI Considerations
Frequency Ranges Planned
Section V - Observing List
Target List
See the list of targets as part of the proposal justification (Table 1).
3