2019ApJ...870...25M -
Astrophys. J., 870, 25-25 (2019/January-1)
The Caltech-NRAO Stripe 82 Survey (CNSS). II. On-the-fly mosaicking methodology.
MOOLEY K.P., MYERS S.T., FRAIL D.A., HALLINAN G., BUTLER B., KIMBALL A. and GOLAP K.
Abstract (from CDS):
Telescope slew and settle time markedly reduce the efficiency of wide-field multi-epoch surveys for sensitive interferometers with small fields of view. The overheads can be mitigated through the use of on-the-fly mosaicking (OTFM), where the the antennas are driven at a non-sidereal rate and visibilities are recorded continuously. Here we introduce the OTFM technique for the Very Large Array (VLA), and describe its implementation for the Caltech-NRAO Stripe 82 Survey (CNSS), a dedicated five-epoch survey for slow transients at the S band (2-4 GHz). We also describe the OTFSim tool for planning dynamically scheduled OTFM observations on the VLA, the latest imaging capabilities for OTFM in CASA, and present a comparison of OTFM observations with pointed observations. Using the subset of our observations from the CNSS pilot and final surveys, we demonstrate that the wide-band and wide-field OTFM observations with the VLA can be imaged accurately, and that this technique offers a more efficient alternative to standard mosaicking for multi-epoch shallow surveys such as the CNSS and the VLA Sky Survey. We envisage that the new OTFM mode will facilitate new synoptic surveys and high-frequency mapping experiments on the VLA.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Journal keyword(s):
methods: observational - surveys - techniques: interferometric
Simbad objects:
13
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