Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz

J. B. Foster; J. M. Rathborne; P. Sanhueza; C. Claysmith; J. S. Whitaker; J. M. Jackson; J. L. Mascoop; M. Wienen; S. L. Breen; F. Herpin; A. Duarte-Cabral; T. Csengeri; Y. Contreras; B. Indermuehle; P. J. Barnes; A. J. Walsh; M. R. Cunningham; T. R. Britton; M. A. Voronkov; J. S. Urquhart; J. Alves; C. H. Jordan; T. Hill; S. Hoq; K. J. Brooks; S. N. Longmore

doi:10.1017/pasa.2013.18

Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz

J. B. Foster, J. M. Rathborne, P. Sanhueza, C. Claysmith, J. S. Whitaker, J. M. Jackson, J. L. Mascoop, M. Wienen, S. L. Breen, F. Herpin, A. Duarte-Cabral, T. Csengeri, Y. Contreras, B. Indermuehle, P. J. Barnes, A. J. Walsh, M. R. Cunningham, T. R. Britton, M. A. Voronkov, J. S. UrquhartJ. Alves, C. H. Jordan, T. Hill, S. Hoq, K. J. Brooks, S. N. Longmore

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

54 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We characterise the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz Survey (MALT90) and the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz. We combine repeated position-switched observations of the source G300.968+01.145 with a map of the same source in order to estimate the pointing reliability of the position-switched observations and, by extension, the MALT90 survey; we estimate our pointing uncertainty to be 8 arcsec. We model the two strongest sources of systematic gain variability as functions of elevation and time-of-day and quantify the remaining absolute flux uncertainty. Corrections based on these two variables reduce the scatter in repeated observations from 12%-25% down to 10%-17%. We find no evidence for intrinsic source variability in G300.968+01.145. For certain applications, the corrections described herein will be integral for improving the absolute flux calibration of MALT90 maps and other observations using the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz.

Original language	English
Article number	e038
Pages (from-to)	1-23
Number of pages	23
Journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Volume	30
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2013.18
Publication status	Published - 2013

Keywords

astrochemistry
H ii regions
instrumentation: spectrographs
ISM: individual (RCW 65)
radio lines: ISM
telescopes

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10.1017/pasa.2013.18

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Foster, J. B., Rathborne, J. M., Sanhueza, P., Claysmith, C., Whitaker, J. S., Jackson, J. M., Mascoop, J. L., Wienen, M., Breen, S. L., Herpin, F., Duarte-Cabral, A., Csengeri, T., Contreras, Y., Indermuehle, B., Barnes, P. J., Walsh, A. J., Cunningham, M. R., Britton, T. R., Voronkov, M. A., ... Longmore, S. N. (2013). Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 30, 1-23. Article e038. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2013.18

@article{d2c6fe9472074c2799dacc41c418c62e,

title = "Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz",

abstract = "We characterise the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz Survey (MALT90) and the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz. We combine repeated position-switched observations of the source G300.968+01.145 with a map of the same source in order to estimate the pointing reliability of the position-switched observations and, by extension, the MALT90 survey; we estimate our pointing uncertainty to be 8 arcsec. We model the two strongest sources of systematic gain variability as functions of elevation and time-of-day and quantify the remaining absolute flux uncertainty. Corrections based on these two variables reduce the scatter in repeated observations from 12%-25% down to 10%-17%. We find no evidence for intrinsic source variability in G300.968+01.145. For certain applications, the corrections described herein will be integral for improving the absolute flux calibration of MALT90 maps and other observations using the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz.",

keywords = "astrochemistry, H ii regions, instrumentation: spectrographs, ISM: individual (RCW 65), radio lines: ISM, telescopes",

author = "Foster, {J. B.} and Rathborne, {J. M.} and P. Sanhueza and C. Claysmith and Whitaker, {J. S.} and Jackson, {J. M.} and Mascoop, {J. L.} and M. Wienen and Breen, {S. L.} and F. Herpin and A. Duarte-Cabral and T. Csengeri and Y. Contreras and B. Indermuehle and Barnes, {P. J.} and Walsh, {A. J.} and Cunningham, {M. R.} and Britton, {T. R.} and Voronkov, {M. A.} and Urquhart, {J. S.} and J. Alves and Jordan, {C. H.} and T. Hill and S. Hoq and Brooks, {K. J.} and Longmore, {S. N.}",

year = "2013",

doi = "10.1017/pasa.2013.18",

language = "English",

volume = "30",

pages = "1--23",

journal = "Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia",

issn = "1323-3580",

publisher = "CSIRO Publishing",

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Foster, JB, Rathborne, JM, Sanhueza, P, Claysmith, C, Whitaker, JS, Jackson, JM, Mascoop, JL, Wienen, M, Breen, SL, Herpin, F, Duarte-Cabral, A, Csengeri, T, Contreras, Y, Indermuehle, B, Barnes, PJ, Walsh, AJ, Cunningham, MR, Britton, TR, Voronkov, MA, Urquhart, JS, Alves, J, Jordan, CH, Hill, T, Hoq, S, Brooks, KJ & Longmore, SN 2013, 'Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz', Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, vol. 30, e038, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2013.18

TY - JOUR

T1 - Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz

AU - Foster, J. B.

AU - Rathborne, J. M.

AU - Sanhueza, P.

AU - Claysmith, C.

AU - Whitaker, J. S.

AU - Jackson, J. M.

AU - Mascoop, J. L.

AU - Wienen, M.

AU - Breen, S. L.

AU - Herpin, F.

AU - Duarte-Cabral, A.

AU - Csengeri, T.

AU - Contreras, Y.

AU - Indermuehle, B.

AU - Barnes, P. J.

AU - Walsh, A. J.

AU - Cunningham, M. R.

AU - Britton, T. R.

AU - Voronkov, M. A.

AU - Urquhart, J. S.

AU - Alves, J.

AU - Jordan, C. H.

AU - Hill, T.

AU - Hoq, S.

AU - Brooks, K. J.

AU - Longmore, S. N.

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - We characterise the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz Survey (MALT90) and the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz. We combine repeated position-switched observations of the source G300.968+01.145 with a map of the same source in order to estimate the pointing reliability of the position-switched observations and, by extension, the MALT90 survey; we estimate our pointing uncertainty to be 8 arcsec. We model the two strongest sources of systematic gain variability as functions of elevation and time-of-day and quantify the remaining absolute flux uncertainty. Corrections based on these two variables reduce the scatter in repeated observations from 12%-25% down to 10%-17%. We find no evidence for intrinsic source variability in G300.968+01.145. For certain applications, the corrections described herein will be integral for improving the absolute flux calibration of MALT90 maps and other observations using the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz.

AB - We characterise the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz Survey (MALT90) and the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz. We combine repeated position-switched observations of the source G300.968+01.145 with a map of the same source in order to estimate the pointing reliability of the position-switched observations and, by extension, the MALT90 survey; we estimate our pointing uncertainty to be 8 arcsec. We model the two strongest sources of systematic gain variability as functions of elevation and time-of-day and quantify the remaining absolute flux uncertainty. Corrections based on these two variables reduce the scatter in repeated observations from 12%-25% down to 10%-17%. We find no evidence for intrinsic source variability in G300.968+01.145. For certain applications, the corrections described herein will be integral for improving the absolute flux calibration of MALT90 maps and other observations using the Mopra telescope at 90 GHz.

KW - astrochemistry

KW - H ii regions

KW - instrumentation: spectrographs

KW - ISM: individual (RCW 65)

KW - radio lines: ISM

KW - telescopes

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887947390&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/pasa.2013.18

DO - 10.1017/pasa.2013.18

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:84887947390

SN - 1323-3580

VL - 30

SP - 1

EP - 23

JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

M1 - e038

ER -

Characterisation of the MALT90 survey and the mopra telescope at 90 GHz

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Keywords

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