The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). Science case, survey design and initial results
- Creators
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Lacy, M.
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Hallinan, G.
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Law, C. J.
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Mooley, K.
Abstract
The Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) is a synoptic, all-sky radio sky survey with a unique combination of high angular resolution (≈2."5), sensitivity (a 1σ goal of 70 μJy/beam in the coadded data), full linear Stokes polarimetry, time domain coverage, and wide bandwidth (2–4 GHz). The first observations began in 2017 September, and observing for the survey will finish in 2024. VLASS will use approximately 5500 hr of time on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to cover the whole sky visible to the VLA (decl. > −40°), a total of 33 885 deg². The data will be taken in three epochs to allow the discovery of variable and transient radio sources. The survey is designed to engage radio astronomy experts, multi-wavelength astronomers, and citizen scientists alike. By utilizing an "on the fly" interferometry mode, the observing overheads are much reduced compared to a conventional pointed survey. In this paper, we present the science case and observational strategy for the survey, and also results from early survey observations.
Additional Information
© 2020 The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Received 2019 October 23; Accepted 2019 December 19; Published 2020 January 28. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. CIRADA is funded by a grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation 2017 Innovation Fund (Project 35999), as well as by the Provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. This research made use of NASA's Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Abstract Service. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. S.C. acknowledges support from the NSF (AAG 1815242). S.C. and T.J.W.L. are members of the NANOGrav Physics Frontier Center, which is supported by the NSF (award number 1430284. C.J.L. is supported by NSF award 1611606. Partial support for the work of L. Rudnick comes from NSF grants AST-1211595 and 1714205 to the University of Minnesota. This work used the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by National Science Foundation grant No. ACI-1548562. H.A. benefited from grant CIIC 218/2019 of the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. B.R.K. acknowledges support from the NRAO NINE program and Office of Diversity and Inclusion. G.R.S. acknowledges support from NSERC Discovery Grant RGPIN-06569-2016. S.B.S. is supported by NSF award #1458952. S.P.O. acknowledges financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant BR2026/23. L.L. acknowledges the financial support of DGAPA, UNAM (IN112417), and CONACyT, Mexico. Facility: VLA. -Attached Files
Submitted - 1907.01981.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 97320
- DOI
- 10.1088/1538-3873/ab63eb
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20190722-104049418
- 35999
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Province of Ontario
- Province of British Columbia
- Province of Alberta
- Province of Manitoba
- Province of Quebec
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- AAG-1815242
- NSF
- PHY-1430284
- NSF
- AST-1611606
- NSF
- AST-1211595
- NSF
- AST-1714205
- NSF
- ACI-1548562
- NSF
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory
- RGPIN-06569-2016
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- OIA-1458952
- NSF
- BR2026/23
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- IN112417
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT)
- CIIC 218/2019
- University of Guanajuato
- Created
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2019-07-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Astronomy Department