The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients

Thijs Coenen; Joeri van Leeuwen; Jason W T Hessels; Benjamin W Stappers; Vladislav I Kondratiev; A Alexov; Rene P Breton; A Bilous; S Cooper; H Falcke; R A Fallows; V Gajjar; J-M Grießmeier; T E Hassall; A Karastergiou; E F Keane; M Kramer; M Kuniyoshi; A Noutsos; S Osłowski; M Pilia; M Serylak; C Schrijvers; C Sobey; S ter Veen; J Verbiest; Patrick Weltevrede; S Wijnholds; K Zagkouris; A S van Amesfoort; J Anderson; A Asgekar; I M Avruch; M E Bell; M J Bentum; G Bernardi; P Best; A Bonafede; F Breitling; J Broderick; M Brüggen; H R Butcher; B Ciardi; A Corstanje; A Deller; S Duscha; J Eislöffel; R Fender; C Ferrari; W Frieswijk; Michael Garrett; F de Gasperin; E de Geus; A W Gunst; J P Hamaker; G Heald; M Hoeft; A van der Horst; E Juette; G Kuper; C Law; G Mann; R McFadden; D McKay-Bukowski; J P McKean; H Munk; E Orru; H Paas; M Pandey-Pommier; A G Polatidis; W Reich; A Renting; H Röttgering; A Rowlinson; A M M Scaife; D Schwarz; J Sluman; O Smirnov; J Swinbank; M Tagger; Y Tang; C Tasse; S Thoudam; C Toribio; R Vermeulen; C Vocks; R J van Weeren; O Wucknitz; P Zarka; A Zensus

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201424495

The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients

Thijs Coenen, Joeri van Leeuwen, Jason W T Hessels, Benjamin W Stappers, Vladislav I Kondratiev, A Alexov, Rene P Breton, A Bilous, S Cooper, H Falcke, R A Fallows, V Gajjar, J-M Grießmeier, T E Hassall, A Karastergiou, E F Keane, M Kramer, M Kuniyoshi, A Noutsos, S OsłowskiM Pilia, M Serylak, C Schrijvers, C Sobey, S ter Veen, J Verbiest, Patrick Weltevrede, S Wijnholds, K Zagkouris, A S van Amesfoort, J Anderson, A Asgekar, I M Avruch, M E Bell, M J Bentum, G Bernardi, P Best, A Bonafede, F Breitling, J Broderick, M Brüggen, H R Butcher, B Ciardi, A Corstanje, A Deller, S Duscha, J Eislöffel, R Fender, C Ferrari, W Frieswijk, Michael Garrett, F de Gasperin, E de Geus, A W Gunst, J P Hamaker, G Heald, M Hoeft, A van der Horst, E Juette, G Kuper, C Law, G Mann, R McFadden, D McKay-Bukowski, J P McKean, H Munk, E Orru, H Paas, M Pandey-Pommier, A G Polatidis, W Reich, A Renting, H Röttgering, A Rowlinson, A M M Scaife, D Schwarz, J Sluman, O Smirnov, J Swinbank, M Tagger, Y Tang, C Tasse, S Thoudam, C Toribio, R Vermeulen, C Vocks, R J van Weeren, O Wucknitz, P Zarka, A Zensus

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Abstract

We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a large fraction of the northern sky, 1.4 ?? 104 deg2, with 1 h dwell times. Each observation covered 75 deg2 using 7 independent fields formed by incoherently summing the high-band antenna fields. The second pilot survey, the LOFAR Tied-Array Survey (LOTAS), spanned 600 deg2, with roughly a 5-fold increase in sensitivity compared with LPPS. Using a coherent sum of the 6 LOFAR "Superterp" stations, we formed 19 tied-array beams, together covering 4 deg2 per pointing. From LPPS we derive a limit on the occurrence, at 142 MHz, of dispersed radio bursts of <150 day-1 sky-1, for bursts brighter than S> 107 Jy for the narrowest searched burst duration of 0.66 ms. In LPPS, we re-detected 65 previously known pulsars. LOTAS discovered two pulsars, the first with LOFAR or any digital aperture array. LOTAS also re-detected 27 previously known pulsars. These pilot studies show that LOFAR can efficiently carry out all-sky surveys for pulsars and fast transients, and they set the stage for further surveying efforts using LOFAR and the planned low-frequency component of the Square Kilometer Array. http://www.astron.nl/pulsars/lofar/surveys/lotas/

Original language	English
Journal	Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume	570
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201424495
Publication status	Published - Oct 2014

Keywords

pulsars: general
telescopes
surveys

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10.1051/0004-6361/201424495

aa24495-14Final published version, 3.6 MB

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014A%26A...570A..60C

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Coenen, T., van Leeuwen, J., Hessels, J. W. T., Stappers, B. W., Kondratiev, V. I., Alexov, A., Breton, R. P., Bilous, A., Cooper, S., Falcke, H., Fallows, R. A., Gajjar, V., Grießmeier, J.-M., Hassall, T. E., Karastergiou, A., Keane, E. F., Kramer, M., Kuniyoshi, M., Noutsos, A., ... Zensus, A. (2014). The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 570. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201424495

@article{c83d56cdeb3a4bf5bed627d2da765593,

title = "The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients",

abstract = "We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a large fraction of the northern sky, 1.4 ?? 104 deg2, with 1 h dwell times. Each observation covered 75 deg2 using 7 independent fields formed by incoherently summing the high-band antenna fields. The second pilot survey, the LOFAR Tied-Array Survey (LOTAS), spanned 600 deg2, with roughly a 5-fold increase in sensitivity compared with LPPS. Using a coherent sum of the 6 LOFAR {"}Superterp{"} stations, we formed 19 tied-array beams, together covering 4 deg2 per pointing. From LPPS we derive a limit on the occurrence, at 142 MHz, of dispersed radio bursts of <150 day-1 sky-1, for bursts brighter than S> 107 Jy for the narrowest searched burst duration of 0.66 ms. In LPPS, we re-detected 65 previously known pulsars. LOTAS discovered two pulsars, the first with LOFAR or any digital aperture array. LOTAS also re-detected 27 previously known pulsars. These pilot studies show that LOFAR can efficiently carry out all-sky surveys for pulsars and fast transients, and they set the stage for further surveying efforts using LOFAR and the planned low-frequency component of the Square Kilometer Array. http://www.astron.nl/pulsars/lofar/surveys/lotas/",

keywords = "pulsars: general, telescopes, surveys",

author = "Thijs Coenen and {van Leeuwen}, Joeri and Hessels, {Jason W T} and Stappers, {Benjamin W} and Kondratiev, {Vladislav I} and A Alexov and Breton, {Rene P} and A Bilous and S Cooper and H Falcke and Fallows, {R A} and V Gajjar and J-M Grie{\ss}meier and Hassall, {T E} and A Karastergiou and Keane, {E F} and M Kramer and M Kuniyoshi and A Noutsos and S Os{\l}owski and M Pilia and M Serylak and C Schrijvers and C Sobey and {ter Veen}, S and J Verbiest and Patrick Weltevrede and S Wijnholds and K Zagkouris and {van Amesfoort}, {A S} and J Anderson and A Asgekar and Avruch, {I M} and Bell, {M E} and Bentum, {M J} and G Bernardi and P Best and A Bonafede and F Breitling and J Broderick and M Br{\"u}ggen and Butcher, {H R} and B Ciardi and A Corstanje and A Deller and S Duscha and J Eisl{\"o}ffel and R Fender and C Ferrari and W Frieswijk and Michael Garrett and {de Gasperin}, F and {de Geus}, E and Gunst, {A W} and Hamaker, {J P} and G Heald and M Hoeft and {van der Horst}, A and E Juette and G Kuper and C Law and G Mann and R McFadden and D McKay-Bukowski and McKean, {J P} and H Munk and E Orru and H Paas and M Pandey-Pommier and Polatidis, {A G} and W Reich and A Renting and H R{\"o}ttgering and A Rowlinson and Scaife, {A M M} and D Schwarz and J Sluman and O Smirnov and J Swinbank and M Tagger and Y Tang and C Tasse and S Thoudam and C Toribio and R Vermeulen and C Vocks and {van Weeren}, {R J} and O Wucknitz and P Zarka and A Zensus",

year = "2014",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/201424495",

language = "English",

volume = "570",

journal = "Astronomy & Astrophysics",

issn = "1432-0746",

publisher = "EDP Sciences",

}

Coenen, T, van Leeuwen, J, Hessels, JWT, Stappers, BW, Kondratiev, VI, Alexov, A, Breton, RP, Bilous, A, Cooper, S, Falcke, H, Fallows, RA, Gajjar, V, Grießmeier, J-M, Hassall, TE, Karastergiou, A, Keane, EF, Kramer, M, Kuniyoshi, M, Noutsos, A, Osłowski, S, Pilia, M, Serylak, M, Schrijvers, C, Sobey, C, ter Veen, S, Verbiest, J, Weltevrede, P, Wijnholds, S, Zagkouris, K, van Amesfoort, AS, Anderson, J, Asgekar, A, Avruch, IM, Bell, ME, Bentum, MJ, Bernardi, G, Best, P, Bonafede, A, Breitling, F, Broderick, J, Brüggen, M, Butcher, HR, Ciardi, B, Corstanje, A, Deller, A, Duscha, S, Eislöffel, J, Fender, R, Ferrari, C, Frieswijk, W, Garrett, M, de Gasperin, F, de Geus, E, Gunst, AW, Hamaker, JP, Heald, G, Hoeft, M, van der Horst, A, Juette, E, Kuper, G, Law, C, Mann, G, McFadden, R, McKay-Bukowski, D, McKean, JP, Munk, H, Orru, E, Paas, H, Pandey-Pommier, M, Polatidis, AG, Reich, W, Renting, A, Röttgering, H, Rowlinson, A, Scaife, AMM, Schwarz, D, Sluman, J, Smirnov, O, Swinbank, J, Tagger, M, Tang, Y, Tasse, C, Thoudam, S, Toribio, C, Vermeulen, R, Vocks, C, van Weeren, RJ, Wucknitz, O, Zarka, P & Zensus, A 2014, 'The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients', Astronomy & Astrophysics, vol. 570. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201424495

TY - JOUR

T1 - The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients

AU - Coenen, Thijs

AU - van Leeuwen, Joeri

AU - Hessels, Jason W T

AU - Stappers, Benjamin W

AU - Kondratiev, Vladislav I

AU - Alexov, A

AU - Breton, Rene P

AU - Bilous, A

AU - Cooper, S

AU - Falcke, H

AU - Fallows, R A

AU - Gajjar, V

AU - Grießmeier, J-M

AU - Hassall, T E

AU - Karastergiou, A

AU - Keane, E F

AU - Kramer, M

AU - Kuniyoshi, M

AU - Noutsos, A

AU - Osłowski, S

AU - Pilia, M

AU - Serylak, M

AU - Schrijvers, C

AU - Sobey, C

AU - ter Veen, S

AU - Verbiest, J

AU - Weltevrede, Patrick

AU - Wijnholds, S

AU - Zagkouris, K

AU - van Amesfoort, A S

AU - Anderson, J

AU - Asgekar, A

AU - Avruch, I M

AU - Bell, M E

AU - Bentum, M J

AU - Bernardi, G

AU - Best, P

AU - Bonafede, A

AU - Breitling, F

AU - Broderick, J

AU - Brüggen, M

AU - Butcher, H R

AU - Ciardi, B

AU - Corstanje, A

AU - Deller, A

AU - Duscha, S

AU - Eislöffel, J

AU - Fender, R

AU - Ferrari, C

AU - Frieswijk, W

AU - Garrett, Michael

AU - de Gasperin, F

AU - de Geus, E

AU - Gunst, A W

AU - Hamaker, J P

AU - Heald, G

AU - Hoeft, M

AU - van der Horst, A

AU - Juette, E

AU - Kuper, G

AU - Law, C

AU - Mann, G

AU - McFadden, R

AU - McKay-Bukowski, D

AU - McKean, J P

AU - Munk, H

AU - Orru, E

AU - Paas, H

AU - Pandey-Pommier, M

AU - Polatidis, A G

AU - Reich, W

AU - Renting, A

AU - Röttgering, H

AU - Rowlinson, A

AU - Scaife, A M M

AU - Schwarz, D

AU - Sluman, J

AU - Smirnov, O

AU - Swinbank, J

AU - Tagger, M

AU - Tang, Y

AU - Tasse, C

AU - Thoudam, S

AU - Toribio, C

AU - Vermeulen, R

AU - Vocks, C

AU - van Weeren, R J

AU - Wucknitz, O

AU - Zarka, P

AU - Zensus, A

PY - 2014/10

Y1 - 2014/10

N2 - We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a large fraction of the northern sky, 1.4 ?? 104 deg2, with 1 h dwell times. Each observation covered 75 deg2 using 7 independent fields formed by incoherently summing the high-band antenna fields. The second pilot survey, the LOFAR Tied-Array Survey (LOTAS), spanned 600 deg2, with roughly a 5-fold increase in sensitivity compared with LPPS. Using a coherent sum of the 6 LOFAR "Superterp" stations, we formed 19 tied-array beams, together covering 4 deg2 per pointing. From LPPS we derive a limit on the occurrence, at 142 MHz, of dispersed radio bursts of <150 day-1 sky-1, for bursts brighter than S> 107 Jy for the narrowest searched burst duration of 0.66 ms. In LPPS, we re-detected 65 previously known pulsars. LOTAS discovered two pulsars, the first with LOFAR or any digital aperture array. LOTAS also re-detected 27 previously known pulsars. These pilot studies show that LOFAR can efficiently carry out all-sky surveys for pulsars and fast transients, and they set the stage for further surveying efforts using LOFAR and the planned low-frequency component of the Square Kilometer Array. http://www.astron.nl/pulsars/lofar/surveys/lotas/

AB - We have conducted two pilot surveys for radio pulsars and fast transients with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) around 140 MHz and here report on the first low-frequency fast-radio burst limit and the discovery of two new pulsars. The first survey, the LOFAR Pilot Pulsar Survey (LPPS), observed a large fraction of the northern sky, 1.4 ?? 104 deg2, with 1 h dwell times. Each observation covered 75 deg2 using 7 independent fields formed by incoherently summing the high-band antenna fields. The second pilot survey, the LOFAR Tied-Array Survey (LOTAS), spanned 600 deg2, with roughly a 5-fold increase in sensitivity compared with LPPS. Using a coherent sum of the 6 LOFAR "Superterp" stations, we formed 19 tied-array beams, together covering 4 deg2 per pointing. From LPPS we derive a limit on the occurrence, at 142 MHz, of dispersed radio bursts of <150 day-1 sky-1, for bursts brighter than S> 107 Jy for the narrowest searched burst duration of 0.66 ms. In LPPS, we re-detected 65 previously known pulsars. LOTAS discovered two pulsars, the first with LOFAR or any digital aperture array. LOTAS also re-detected 27 previously known pulsars. These pilot studies show that LOFAR can efficiently carry out all-sky surveys for pulsars and fast transients, and they set the stage for further surveying efforts using LOFAR and the planned low-frequency component of the Square Kilometer Array. http://www.astron.nl/pulsars/lofar/surveys/lotas/

KW - pulsars: general

KW - telescopes

KW - surveys

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201424495

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201424495

M3 - Article

SN - 1432-0746

SN - 2329-1265

VL - 570

JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics

ER -

The LOFAR pilot surveys for pulsars and fast radio transients

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