The EVN (and AVN) for Galactic science and as a SKA pathfinder

The EVN (and AVN) for Galactic science and as a SKA pathfinder Huib van Langevelde JIVE and Sterrewacht Leiden

Intro EVN: European VLBI Network Consortium of (European) Telescopes AVN: African VLBI Network JIVE: Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe Funded by radio-astronomy institutes and research councils NWO (NL), ASTRON (NL), STFC (UK), INAF (IT), ICN-IG (ES), OSO (SE), MPG (DE) CAS (CN), CNRS (FR), NRF (ZA) Promote the use and advance of VLBI (for astronomy) Booming with Galactic science Masers, stars SKA pathfinder Connectivity, real-time science JOINT INSTITUTE FOR VLBI IN EUROPE huib 11/5/13 Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 2 /20

The European VLBI Network huib 11/5/13 20+ possible antennas Ef, Mc, On, Jb, Nt, Tr, Wb, Sh, Ur, Hh, Ar, Mh, Ys, Sv, Ro, Ku, My, Wz, Sm, Ny, Ka Ran by up to 14 different organizations Big dishes in Europe And 12 more antennas for Globals with NRAO Covering range of frequencies Workhorse frequencies 18cm, 6cm, Also available: SX, 5cm, 1.2cm And at limited stations 90cm, 21cm, UHF, 50cm, 2cm, 0.7mm Reaching mas resolutions From 15mas for 1.4 GHz EVN (can add MERLIN for brightness sensitivity) To 1 mas at 5GHz with Asian, African or American baselines Sensitivity of 5μJy in 8hr at 1.4 GHz Combination of Big Antennas and 1 Gbps bandwidth Big antennas also vital for spectroscopy (mjy sensitivity) 10% of SKA collecting area Operational approximately 60 days/year 3 sessions augmented with e-vlbi once a month Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 3 /20

Metsahovi FI Jodrell Bank UK Onsala SE Torun PL Westerbork NL Cambridge UK Effelsberg DE Medicina IT Yebes ES Noto IT

3 telescopes in Russia Irbene LV Miyun 50m Sardinia 64m Sheshan 25m Nanshan 25m Arecibo, Puerto Rico Hartebeesthoek, South Africa Kunming 40m

Long baselines increasingly important for EVN Even more so with new Shanghai 65m telescope Also successful tests done with Korea Big, high frequency Sardina telescope commissioned

Great for AGN science JVAS B1938+666 Global VLBI (22 stations) Preliminary map J0751+271 McKean et al.

With e-vlbi fantastic for transients (Galactic and Extra-) cta. 44.74 44.72 44.70 44.68 44.66 44.64 02 h 43 min 27.975 s 27.973 s 27.971 s 27.969 s 27.967 s Right ascension (J2000)

Unique pulsar capabilities, phased array timing, coherent de-dispersion VLBI phased array mode: Two step approach, calibration in 2 nd pass

Unique pulsar capabilities, phased array timing, coherent de-dispersion VLBI phased array mode: Two step approach, calibration in 2 nd pass

Maser population and dynamics, notably 6.7GHz A multiple system of high-mass YSOs surrounded by disks in NGC7538 IRS1 Moscadelli & Goddi, astro-ph 1404.3957, accepted for A&A

Astrometry: maser distances in the CygX region, Rygl et al. 2012

CH3OH magnetic fields & outflows: statistical results Surcis, G. et al. 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013

Software correlator huib 11/5/13 Home grown SFXC Build for Space applications Funded in NEXPReS project 13 stations at 1024 Mbps in real time Used for all experiments Including e-vlbi Some specific features Mixed backends, bandwidths Arbitrary spectral resolution More accurate, notably on X-pol Can do near-field spacecraft Can do Radioastron Pulsar binning/gating Including coherent de-dispersion And phased array for off-set targets Multiple field centres Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 /20

VLBI for Space applications... Gaia MarcoPolo-R? JUICE-Laplace ExoMars BepiColombo RadioAstron Huygens

Special modes huib 11/5/13 e-vlbi Operational at least 10 x 24h per year And quite bit more for ToO Flexible ways to get into e-vlbi Request e-vlbi for fast response Or for triggered proposals Short requests <2hr Target of Opportunities Any experiment can be done e-vlbi on request Some stations started with e-transfer too Out of session observing advertised For pre-fixed dates Originally for RadioAstron Could be useful for parallaxes or space applications Tested triggered observations Few minute response Globals with VLBA (VLA, GBT) now at 1 Gbps EVN + KVN always a possibility EVN + LBA also scheduled Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 15/20

Pushing bandwidth, 2 and 4 Gbps Pushing connectivity, around the world

Future for VLBI Science case is in good shape Extremely broad Can do unique science at global baselines With very many telescopes Constantly improving capabilities Increasing number of stations Use of ALMA for VLBI Africa of course Including MeerKAT But also Azores, Brasil, Ireland, Jordan, India Synergy with new survey instruments %$ SKA pathfinders in South Africa LOFAR, Aperitif emerlin, EVLA huib 11/5/13 Eventually observe with SKA elements in Africa Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 17/20

African VLBI Network Based on abandoned communication dishes Large commitment by South Africans Huge engineering task in various countries Interesting for capacity building In relation to African SKA Looking for EC support Politics seem favourable huib 11/5/13 Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 18/20

AVN process huib 11/5/13 Establishing VLBI Network Upgrading communication dishes Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Madagascar Kutunse, Ghana, making progress Establishing radio astronomy in SKA partners SKA remote stations sites RFI and atmospheric conditions important Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia Scientific objectives 18cm, 6cm and including 6.7GHz? Cooled receivers Phase stability Step towards VLBI with SKA Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 19/20

JIVE evolving Celebrated 20y anniversary huib 11/5/13 Transition to ERIC European Research Infrastructure Consortium Addresses establishment of European scale facilities Members are countries Includes many SKA countries, incl ZA On course for end 2014 Promoting VLBI on global scale Unique science on long baselines And high frequencies Common interests with SKA Correlators (UniBoard) Connectivity Operations (real-time) Galactic science with the SKA and its pathfinders, Leiden, 20 May 2014 Letter of Intent European partnership concerning the ERIC on VLBI This Letter of Intent concerns the establishment of a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), which will encompass all the current activities of the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE) Preamble The European VLBI Network (EVN) is a consortium that offers an astronomical observing facility through joint observations of radio telescopes across Europe and other continents. The consortium provides the resources to carry out the observations, develops the necessary equipment and set the policies needed to make this facility available for researchers. Within the EVN, the JIVE has been established in 1993 as a Dutch national legal entity (Stichting/Foundation) to handle the central processing (correlation) of the telescope data. It offers the users of the EVN support in proposing, processing and interpreting the observations of the EVN. It also provides feedback on the data quality delivered by the telescopes. JIVE has an active role in enhancing the capabilities of the EVN by developing new techniques, notably concerning the central processing. In this and other activities JIVE can act as the representative of the EVN, in particular when carrying out EC programmes. JIVE is a long-standing foundation, currently its funding is based on a 5 year-mou structure. As a legal framework, the ERIC model is deemed to be a better match to the science mission and ambitions of the JIVE. Besides the current activities of the JIVE, it could be explored whether the ERIC could absorb responsibilities concerning the VLBI equipment and operations at the telescopes. Additionally, the ERIC implementation may offer operational advantages to the benefit of the partners in the EVN. The signatories intend to establish an ERIC with the aim to strengthen the long-standing collaboration that their national research institutes have in radio astronomy by adopting a legal framework to provide more sustainability to the collaboration. The signatories aim to continue the existing collaboration with all the EVNpartners and structure and align this wi 20/20