Letters of Intent received in 2017

LoI 2019-2001
New wide-area radio surveys enhancing our understanding the structure and evolution of the universe

Date: 1 July 2019 to 5 July 2019
Category: Non-GA Symposium
Location: Sydney, Australia
Contact: Aidan Hotan (aidan.hotan@csiro.au)
Coordinating division: Division J Galaxies and Cosmology
Other divisions: Division B Facilities, Technologies and Data Science
Co-Chairs of SOC: Aidan Hotan (CSIRO CASS)
George Heald (CSIRO CASS)
Lisa Harvey-Smith (CSIRO CASS)
Co-Chairs of LOC: Amanda Gray (CSIRO CASS)
Marilyn Drake (CSIRO CASS)

 

Topics

Status of new radio telescopes: ASKAP, APERTIF, MeerKAT
Science from widefield surveys: continuum/polarization and the evolution of radio galaxies
Science from widefield surveys: neutral hydrogen and the evolution of starforming galaxies
The transient radio sky
Expecting the unexpected
The multiwavelength view: complementarity with other survey activities
Widefield calibration methods and dynamic range
Future technology innovations / Towards the SKA

 

Rationale

The latest generation of radio interferometers (including ASKAP, APERTIF, MWA and LOFAR) provide unprecedented survey speeds that will allow mapping of the entire visible sky on much shorter timescales than previously. These instruments will dramatically increase the number of known radio sources, allowing new insight into the structure and evolution of the universe on the largest scales. Radio continuum observations detect star forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei out to great distances, while red-shifted neutral Hydrogen (HI) emission can be used to trace the material from which galaxies assemble, and which continues to drive their growth to the present day, providing a means to study multiple evolutionary stages.

This meeting will share the first wave of results from the very latest generation of radio surveys and focus research priorities for phase one of the Square Kilometre Array. The timing of the meeting is chosen to follow the first year of early science operations of the new-technology facilities that open the instantaneous field of view of sensitive centimetre-wave radio telescopes to a new extreme. Survey results from a wide range of science areas are expected by mid-2019, along with the possibility for the first batch of answers to questions that we don't yet know to ask.

In order to achieve their transformational capabilities, instruments such as ASKAP and APERTIF make use of new technology like the Phased Array Feed, providing both new capabilities and challenges in terms of data management, calibration and imaging. This meeting will also allow astronomers to share their experience with state-of-the-art algorithms in search of the highest possible image fidelity.

Access to wide simultaneous fields of view also accelerates the discovery of transient sources such as Fast Radio Bursts, opening a new window into the time domain. Participants will have the chance to share new discoveries arising from this capability and propose search strategies for the future.

Knowledge of the radio sky must also be combined with existing and future large-scale surveys at other wavelengths. This meeting will provide a chance for astronomers to discuss the first outcomes of all-sky multi-wavelength analysis and form new collaborations as a result.