Exploring the Radio Transient and Static Sky with the Allen Telescope Array Five GHz Sky Survey

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Dr. Geoffrey Bower of the University of California Berkeley will undertake an extensive survey of static and variable sources at radio wavelengths, using the new Allen Telescope Array. The new survey is called the Five GHz Sky Survey (FiGSS), and will cover about 10,000 square degrees (one-third of the radio sky). It will also include cross-comparisons with surveys at optical and other wavelengths. This static survey will be considerably more sensitive than existing surveys. Two smaller fields (100 and 10 square degrees) will be observed with rapid cadence (every 10 days and daily, respectively). The goals of the transient survey include systematic search for radio supernovae in nearby galaxies; discovery of orphan gamma-ray burst afterglows, the predicted counterparts to otherwise unobservable stellar explosions; discovery of radio emission from tidal disruption of stars by massive black holes; and detection of stellar-mass black hole eruptions and dwarf star outbursts. Many of these phenomena have not been characterized in a systematic way to date. Research on FiGSS will be conducted by a small group centered at Berkeley, including postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and undergraduate students, providing valuable training for the next generation of astronomers. The results of FiGSS will be disseminated to the larger community through the Virtual Observatory.