Interference-mitigation measures at RATAN-600 radio telescope

We report an analysis of the electromagnetic situation at RATAN-600 radio telescope over the 30-year period of operation of the complex of continuum radiometers. We analyze practical methods for mitigating radio interference ranging from the use of anti-interference adapters to incorporating fast digital signal processors into the standard data acquisition system.     

The field of view and flux sensitivity of RATAN-600

The refined data on the diffraction scattering of RATAN-600 allowed the telescope field of view to be increased substantially at large elevations. Amethod, which can be used to reconstruct the parameters of the sources passing at angular distances fromthe beamaxis that are several dozen times greater than the half-power width of the beam, is analyzed. The knowledge about wide scattering of RATAN-600 allowed the noise from background radio sources at zenith to be reduced by one order of magnitude and flux sensitivity of the radio telescope to be increased by the same factor without resorting to two-dimensional mapping. Methods for cleaning one-dimensional records of the RZF survey are suggested that use model scans based on the data of the NVSS survey and MHAT filtering. The latter proved to be an especially efficient tool for suppressing sky noise and identifying sources in the central section of the survey. The flux sensitivity of RATAN-600 is estimated with new opportunities taken into account.     

New-generation data acquisition and control system for continuum radio-astronomic observations with RATAN-600 radio telescope: Development,observations, and measurements

A new Data Acquisition and Control System for performing continuum radio-astronomical observations with the RATAN-600 radio telescope is presented. One of the “building blocks” of the system is the Embedded Radiometric Data Acquisition System (ER-DAS) developed at the RATAN-600. It is a measurement facility meant for digitizing and reducing radiometer signals and for transmitting the result of these operations via Ethernet networks. ER-DAS system is shown to have a low self-noise level and to lack 1/f-type noise. The measurement facility is shown to operate efficiently in radio-astronomical observations. Radiometric measurements of the parameters of high-sensitivity radiometers are illustrated in the case of the measurements of radiometer gain fluctuations.     

Development of ephemeris support in observations of distant radio sources and solar system objects at RATAN-600 radio telescope

New elements of the algorithmic and software bases of the ephemeris support for the RATAN-600 radio telescope observations of distant radio sources and objects of the Solar system are briefly described.     

Optical and radio studies of radio sources

We present the classification of optical identifications and radio spectra of six radio sources from a complete (in flux density) sample in the declination range 10° to 12°30′ (J2000.0). The observations were carried out with the 6-m Special Astrophysical Observatory telescope (Russia) in the wavelength range 3600–10000 Å, the 2.1-m GHAO telescope (Mexico) in the range 4200–9000 Å, and the RATAN-600 radio telescope in the frequency range 0.97–21.7 GHz. Three of the six objects under study are classified as quasars, one is a BL Lac object, one is an absorption-line radio galaxy, and one is an emission-line radio galaxy. Five objects have flat radio spectra, and one object has a power-law radio spectrum. All of the radio sources identified as quasars or BL Lac objects show variable radio flux densities. The spectra of three objects were separated into extended and compact components.     

Properties of one-dimensional sections of WMAP maps at the declination <Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis> = 41°

One-dimensional sections of WMAP maps—ILC and background components (synchrotron, free-free radiation and dust emission) are investigated and their correlation properties on various angular scales are analyzed. Sections of the ILC map are found to correlate significantly with the maps of Galactic background components at the δ = 41° declination of RATAN-600 survey. The confidence level of the correlations found is estimated by analyzing random realizations of the Gaussian process that describes the microwave background. A method for identifying correlated intervals from maps on the sphere as a function of angular scale is proposed. This method can be used to search for non-Gaussian features (spots) found in the distribution of microwave background and radio sources in the same coordinate areas. The approach described can also be used to search for such non-Gaussian sources in observational programs performed on the radio telescope RATAN-600.     

A new spectrum analyzer for radio astronomical studies with the radio telescope RATAN-600

The spectral measuring facility with a new Fourier analyzer for use with the radio telescope RATAN-600 is described and its experimental data are reported.     

The Gelfreikh–Lubyshev effect according to microwave observations of sunspots

We report the results of RATAN-600 radio telescope observations of the fine structure of the source of cyclotron microwave emission (SCMR) located in the solar corona above the main sunspot of NOAA11899 active region. Compared to earlier and mostly episodic observations of the SCMR, our regular observations with RATAN-600 radio telescope showed rather conclusively that the variation of the structure of the SCMR as a function of the angle of view in the present case is of geometric nature. The behavior of image variations generally agree with the computations performed by Gelfreikh and Lubyshev in terms of the simplest model of the solar atmosphere above the sunspot. The results of their computations are widely used for interpreting observations.     

Analysis of the RC catalog sample in the region overlapping with the regions of the FIRST and SDSS surveys: I. Identification of sources with the VLSS, TXS, NVSS, FIRST, and GB6 catalogs

Radio sources of the RC catalog produced in 1980–1985 at RATAN-600 radio telescope based on a deep survey of a sky strip centered on the declination of the SS433 source are optically identified in the region overlapping with FIRST and SDSS surveys (about 132?° large). The NVSS catalog was used as the reference catalog for refining the coordinates of the radio sources. The morphology is found for about 75% of the objects of the sample and the ratio of single, double and multicomponent radio sources is computed based on FIRST radio maps. The 74, 365, 1400, and 4850MHz data of the VLSS, TXS, NVSS, FIRST, and GB6 catalogs are used to analyze the shape of the spectra.     

RATAN-600 radio telescope in the 24th solar-activity cycle. I. New opportunities and tasks

Regular upgrade of the RATAN-600 radio telescope has been completed in order to prepare the instrument for the studies of the active Sun during the 24th solar-activity cycle. The upgrade included the improvement of the parameters of the multi-octave solar spectral and polarization analyzer, realization of regular multiple observations, and the use of modern capabilities for the representation and processing of observational data. In this connection, there appear to be sufficient reasons to review the results obtained using the previous version of the receiving equipment and discuss the new capabilities in the study of the physics of the solar atmosphere provided by the new analyzer.     

A study of RATAN-600 observations of solar S-component sources

A sample of 36 S-component sources observed by the radio telescope RATAN-600 was compared with calculations of gyromagnetic emission and bremsstrahlung based on recent sunspot models. The diagnostic possibilities of the spectral distributions in the radio flux, the degree of polarization, and the source sizes for the estimation of magnetic scale heights and other source parameters were checked by different methods.Depending on the magnetic field structure, the observations show different types of polarization spectra. Most regular spectra and highest values of the degree of polarization were observed from sources above the leading part of the associated spot group. Magnetic scale heights were found to be intrinsically associated with the source size of the gyromagnetic emission.The flare production rate of active regions appears to be related to their S-component flux and magnetic scale heights.     

On properties of microwave sources located above the neutral line of radial magnetic field

In this study we continue our investigation of the radio sources located above the neutral line of the radial magnetic field in solar active regions, i.e., the so-called neutral line associated sources (NLS). The nature of NLS is still far from being understood. To study it, we use the spectroscopic capabilities of the new broadband polarimetric facility of the RATAN-600 radio telescope. We study the radio spectra of NLS sources in several solar active regions over a wide range of variations of their sizes. We find the NLS radio emission fluxes to be related to the gradient of the quasi-longitudinal magnetic field in the photosphere. We estimate the vertical positions of NLS relative to the cyclotron radio sources. We find fine spectral features in the NLS emission, which confirm the presence of a current sheet in their sources. We associate the appreciable lack of polarization in such sources with their location near the tops of the coronal arches.     

Distribution of centimeter-wave brightness temperature of solar polar region

The brightness temperature distributions of the solar atmosphere in the polar region at the distances from one to two solar radii during the solar activity minimum are reported. Observations of the maximum phase of the solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 were carried out simultaneously on two sectors of the RATAN-600 radio telescope over a wide range of centimeter waves, 1–31 cm. This study is based on a comparison of models and observations carried out on the northeastern sector of the RATAN-600.     

Study of the power beam pattern of RATAN-600 during the deep RZF survey (1998–2003)

This paper proposes a method for constructing an experimental power beam pattern (PB) of RATAN-600 based on the sample of NVSS sources observed in the process of a deep sky survey near local zenith. The data obtained from observations of radio sources at λ7.6 cm in nine bands of the survey (the 2002 and 2003 sets) are used to construct vertical PB of the telescope at rather large offsets from the central horizontal section of the PB (±36′). The experimental PBs obtained using different methods are compared and the root-mean-square deviations of the experimental PB from the corresponding computed PB are determined. The stability of the power beam pattern in its central part (±6′) during the RATAN-600 Zenith Field (RZF) survey (1998–2003) and the accuracies of the fluxes of the sources observed within the framework of this survey and included into the RZF catalog are estimated [1].     

Computation of the horizontal size of the RATAN-600 beam pattern for the “Southern Sector with a Flat Reflector” mode with allowance for the parameters of primary feeds

We report the spectra of the horizontal size of the beam pattern of the RATAN-600 radio telescope operating in the “Southern Sector with a Flat Reflector” observing mode computed in the geometrical optics approximation with allowance for the beam patterns of various primary feeds used in observations with the solar receiver facility in the 3–18 GHz frequency interval. In particular, we show that in the case broadband, spiral, or sinuous feeds are used, the width of the horizontal beam pattern of the antenna decreases with wavelength in the low-frequency part of the spectrum.We compute the spectra of the sizes of two compact local sources on the Sun, which show that the results obtained have to be taken into account when determining the parameters of local sources.     

A study of the Northern polar region of the sun using the microwave observations of the total eclipse of March 29, 2006

We report the results of unique observations of the solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 over a wide radio-wavelength range from 1 to 50 cm made with the large RATAN-600 stationary radio telescope during the maximum eclipse phase performed using the method of the source transit across the fixed beam pattern. The multifunctional opportunities of the radio telescope allowed observations to be performed simultaneously in a part of the Northern sector of RATAN-600 and in the Southern-sector plus periscope mode using all the available receiving equipment at the corresponding secondary mirrors. At the time of maximum eclipse phase a narrow 1—3-arcsec wide crescent-shaped band near the North Solar Pole remained visible out of the entire solar disk covered by the Moon. We achieved high flux sensitivity, which allowed us to discover a large polar radio source located above the North Solar Pole and obtain detailed data on its radiation and spatial structure. Moreover, we detected optically thin radiation of the solar corona at the brightness-temperature level of several K or several tens of K. We find this radiation to extend beyond the solar limb out to the heliocentric distances of one solar radius. These data are unique in that they are not contaminated by scattered radiation of the solar radio disk, which usually shows up in ordinary observations. We are the first to obtain a detailed spectrum of the radiation of a high-latitude prominence at many wavelengths with a 1% frequency resolution in the microwave range, which allowed us to estimate its magnetic field at a number of levels in the lower corona.     

Transition region above sunspots inferred from microwave observations

We report the results of spectral-polarization observations of the active region NOAA 10848 made with the RATAN-600 radio telescope. High spectral resolution (1%) of observations allowed obtaining detailed temperature height profiles for the sources located above the sunspots in the transition region from the chromosphere to the corona. The resulting vertical profiles indicate that the transition region above the sunspots may extend over a considerable height interval and be characterized by a gradual increase of temperature—a pattern that is inconsistent with model atmospheres having a sharp temperature increase in the transition region.     

IRAS F02044+0957: An interacting system

A list of 750 objects has been compiled using the Astrophysical CATalogs Support System (CATS) database, by cross-identifying sources in the IRAS catalogues and the catalogue of the Texas survey at 365 MHz. We have carried out a search for optical counterparts of those objects, where the difference in positions between the two catalogues and the APM is less than 3. One of these sources, IRAS F02044+0957, was observed with the RATAN-600 radio telescope at four frequencies in April 1999. Optical spectroscopy of the components of the system was made with the 2.1-m telescope of the Guillermo Haro Observatory. The radio and optical spectra, the NVSS radio map and the optical and infrared images allow us to conclude that the steep spectrum (=–0-94 ± 0-02) radio source IRAS F02044+0957 is a pair of interacting galaxies, a LINER and a HII galaxy, at z=0.093.Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 113–124 (February 2005).     

Limits on Cosmological Parameters from Statistical Investigations of the Ratan-600 and 87GB Surveys

The sky distributions of sources in a RATAN-600 survey and a strip of the 87GB survey have been investigated. The presence of deviations from a Poisson radio source distribution is confirmed. A significant fraction of radio sources are associated with the supercluster-void network, which is composed of regular periodic structures on scales from 30 arcmin to one degree. A comparative study of the distributions and identifications of the RATAN-600 and 87GB surveys is performed. The data from this study are used to set limits on the cosmological parameter qo and the epoch of formation of large scale structures in the Universe.     

Observations of the rapid variability of the two BL Lac type objects J2005+77 and J2022+76 with the RATAN-600

We report here the results of observations of two BL Lacertae-type objects, J2005+77 and J2022+76, using the RATAN-600 at frequencies 11.2, 7.7, and 4.8 GHz. We found variations of radio emission on timescales of one day and we are the first to discover a variability of this type for J2022+76.We compare our observations with long-term multifrequency radio observations of the same sources performed on RATAN-600 within the framework of other observational programs. We analyze the behaviour of variability of the two sources and provide arguments in favour of the preferred emission generation mechanisms for the objects studied.