LOFAR Key Science Project Cosmic Magnetism in the Nearby Universe (MKSP)

1. LOFAR Key Science ProjectCosmic Magnetismin the Nearby Universe(MKSP)

2. MKSP Documents • Project Plan (Science Case) – see MKSP Website • Project Description for LOFAR Book – submitted • MKSP Memo No. 1: Frequency Coverage Analysis– by George Heald • MKSP Memo No. 2: Pulsar Studies of the Galactic Magnetic Field with LOFAR - by Aris Noutsos

3. MKSP observation plan • Galaxy survey (60 galaxies, 180-210 MHz, 9h per galaxy, together with Surveys KSP) • Deep galaxy survey (10-20 galaxies, 120-180 MHz, 100h per galaxy) • Milky Way fields: piggyback with deep extragalactic fields • Radio galaxies (10 galaxies, 3 frequency bands, 5h per galaxy and band) • Stellar jets (5 objects, 120-180 MHz, 20h per object)

4. LOFAR sensitivity(second revision) 100h: σ≈15 μJy J. Anderson

5. LOFAR sensitivity(second revision) 100h: δΦ≈0.1rad m-2 for 75 μJy sources J. Anderson

6. Observation time • Total observation time needed for the deep fields: ≈ 1000-2000 h • Total time for all national LOFAR consortia within the first 5 years (assuming 50% efficiency and 10 → 64% open time): ≈ 14000 h • The MKSP needs ≈ 10% of the available time !

7. Some LOFAR Politics • Total observation time for GLOW in 5 years: 2600 h • The MKSP needs ≈60% of the time available for GLOW • 5 German stations, wide interests: realistically only 20% • International support needed !

8. New: 2 M€ Funding by DFG Research network on observing magnetism with LOFAR: Magnetization of Interstellar and Intergalactic Media - The Prospects of Low-Frequency Radio Observations Speaker: Uli Klein, Univ. Bonn Vice Speaker: Rainer Beck, MPIfR Bonn Further project leaders: D. Bomans, M. Brüggen, R.-J. Dettmar, D. Elstner, T. Enßlin, M. Hoeft, Harald Lesch, W. Reich Available positions: 11 PhD, 2 postdocs (not yet filled) Start: June 2010 Funding: 3+ years Kickoff workshop: October 2010

9. DFG Research Unit

10. RM Synthesis U Q Fr Fi RM Synthesis RM synthesis works on observed Q,U cubes in wavelength to produce a cube of the complex Faraday dispersion function (pol. amplitude and intrinsic angle)in Faraday depth Φ: λ2 λ2 Φ Φ

11. RM Synthesis • RM Synthesis pipeline: Under construction, ready until start of MSSS (Th. Riller, MPA Garching) • Offline tools (RM Synthesis++): Wiener Filter (S. Duscha, Th. Riller & Th. Enßlin, MPA Garching), Wavelet RM Synthesis (R. Stepanov & P. Frick, ICMM Perm)

12. Wavelet-basedRM Synthesis (1) Perfect observation: complete wavelength range Frick et al. 2010

13. Wavelet-basedRM Synthesis (2) 385 – 500 MHz Gaussian component hardly visible Frick et al. 2010

14. Wavelet-basedRM Synthesis (3) 120 – 500 MHz Gaussian component not visible with classical RM Synthesis, box component visible as two horns Frick et al. 2010

15. Plans • Commissioning observations (2010): Develop and test software for pol calibration, RM Synthesis and source finding, … (see next talk by James) • Million Source Shallow Survey (MSSS, 2010): find polarization calibrators • Magnetism Early Experiment Exploration (MEEE, 2011): Calibration techniques, extended sources, deep test fields

16. ASKAP(Australian SKA Pathfinder) ASKAP: 36 antennas of 12m diameter, max. baseline 6km, frequency range 0.7 -1.8 GHz POSSUM: POlarization Survey of the Universe´s Magnetism • All-sky polarized continuum at 1.4 GHz • Rotation measures for ≈ 1.5 million sources (≈ 50 RMs/deg2) • Recognize large-scale fields in Milky Way, nearby galaxies and clusters

17. MeerKAT MeerQUITTENS: MeerKAT QU Investigation To Trace Extragalactic Nonthermal Sources • Deep imaging of synchrotron pol & RM grid of nearby spiral and dwarf galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters • 900-1750 MHz and 8-10 GHz • Ideal complement to LOFAR