J. O. Gundersen

The SCUBA half-degree extragalactic survey - I. Survey motivation, design and data processing

he Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) is a major new blank-field extragalactic submillimetre (submm) survey currently underway at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Ultimately, SHADES aims to cover half a square degree at 450 and 850m to a 4 depth of ~= 8mJy at 850m. Two fields are being observed, the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field (SXDF) (02h18m- 05) and the Lockman Hole East (10h52m+ 57). The survey has three main aims: (i) to investigate the population of high-redshift submm galaxies and the cosmic history of massive dust-enshrouded star formation activity; (ii) to investigate the clustering properties of submm-selected galaxies in order to determine whether these objects could be progenitors of present-day massive ellipticals; and (iii) to investigate the fraction of submm-selected sources that harbour active galactic nuclei. To achieve these aims requires that the submm data be combined with co-spatial information spanning the radio-to-X-ray frequency range. Accordingly, SHADES has been designed to benefit from ultra-deep radio imaging obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA), deep mid-infrared observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope, submm mapping by the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimetre Telescope (BLAST), deep near-infrared imaging with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, deep optical imaging with the Subaru Telescope and deep X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton observatory. It is expected that the resulting extensive multiwavelength data set will provide complete photometric redshift information accurate to as well as detailed spectral energy distributions for the vast majority of the submm-selected sources. In this paper, the first of a series on SHADES, we present an overview of the motivation for the survey, describe the SHADES survey strategy, provide a detailed description of the primary data-analysis pipeline and demonstrate the superiority of our adopted matched-filter source-extraction technique over, for example, Emerson-II style methods. We also report on the progress of the survey. As of 2004 February, 720arcmin2 had been mapped with SCUBA (about 40 per cent of the anticipated final total area) to a median 1 depth of 2.2mJy per beam at 850m (25mJy per beam at 450m), and the source-extraction routines give a source density of 650 +/- 50 sources deg-2 > 3 at 850m. Although uncorrected for Eddington bias, this source density is more than sufficient for providing enough sources to answer the science goals of SHADES, once half a square degree is observed. A refined reanalysis of the original 8-mJy survey Lockman hole data was carried out in order to evaluate the new data-reduction pipeline. Of the 17 most secure sources in the original sample, 12 have been reconfirmed, including 10 of the 11 for which radio identifications were previously secured.

SANEPIC: a mapmaking method for time stream data from large arrays

We describe a mapmaking method that we have developed for the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) experiment, but which should have general application to data from other submillimeter arrays. Our method uses a maximum likelihood-based approach, with several approximations, which allows images to be constructed using large amounts of data with fairly modest computer memory and processing requirements. This new approach, Signal and Noise Estimation Procedure Including Correlations (SANEPIC), builds on several previous methods but focuses specifically on the regime where there are a large number of detectors sampling the same map of the sky, and explicitly allowing for the possibility of strong correlations between the detector time streams. We provide real and simulated examples of how well this method performs compared with more simplistic mapmakers based on filtering. We discuss two separate implementations of SANEPIC: a brute-force approach, in which the inverse pixel-pixel covariance matrix is computed, and an iterative approach, which is much more efficient for large maps. SANEPIC has been successfully used to produce maps using data from the 2005 BLAST flight.

The Q/U Imaging ExperimenT Instrument

The Q/U Imaging ExperimenT (QUIET) is designed to measure polarization in the cosmic microwave background, targeting the imprint of inflationary gravitational waves at large angular scales(~1°). Between 2008 October and 2010 December, two independent receiver arrays were deployed sequentially on a 1.4 m side-fed Dragonian telescope. The polarimeters that form the focal planes use a compact design based on high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) that provides simultaneous measurements of the Stokes parameters Q, U, and I in a single module. The 17-element Q-band polarimeter array, with a central frequency of 43.1 GHz, has the best sensitivity (69 μKs^(1/2)) and the lowest instrumental systematic errors ever achieved in this band, contributing to the tensor-to-scalar ratio at r < 0.1. The 84-element W-band polarimeter array has a sensitivity of 87 μKs^(1/2) at a central frequency of 94.5 GHz. It has the lowest systematic errors to date, contributing at r < 0.01. The two arrays together cover multipoles in the range l ~ 25-975. These are the largest HEMT-based arrays deployed to date. This article describes the design, calibration, performance, and sources of systematic error of the instrument.The Q/U Imaging ExperimenT (QUIET) is designed to measure polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background, targeting the imprint of inflationary gravitational waves at large angular scales (~ 1 degree). Between 2008 October and 2010 December, two independent receiver arrays were deployed sequentially on a 1.4 m side-fed Dragonian telescope. The polarimeters which form the focal planes use a highly compact design based on High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) that provides simultaneous measurements of the Stokes parameters Q, U, and I in a single module. The 17-element Q-band polarimeter array, with a central frequency of 43.1 GHz, has the best sensitivity (69 uK sqrt(s)) and the lowest instrumental systematic errors ever achieved in this band, contributing to the tensor-to-scalar ratio at r < 0.1. The 84-element W-band polarimeter array has a sensitivity of 87 uK sqrt(s) at a central frequency of 94.5 GHz. It has the lowest systematic errors to date, contributing at r < 0.01. The two arrays together cover multipoles in the range l= 25-975. These are the largest HEMT-based arrays deployed to date. This article describes the design, calibration, performance of, and sources of systematic error for the instrument.

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) 2005: Calibration and Targeted Sources

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) operated successfully during a 100 hr flight from northern Sweden in 2005 June (BLAST05). As part of the calibration and pointing procedures, several compact sources were mapped, including solar system, Galactic, and extragalactic targets, specifically Pallas, CRL 2688, LDN 1014, IRAS 20126+4104, IRAS 21078+5211, IRAS 21307+5049, IRAS 22134+5834, IRAS 23011+6126, K3-50, W75N, and Mrk 231. One additional source, Arp 220, was observed and used as our primary calibrator. Details of the overall BLAST05 calibration procedure are discussed here. The BLAST observations of each compact source are described, flux densities and spectral energy distributions are reported, and these are compared with previous measurements at other wavelengths. The 250, 350, and 500 μm BLAST data can provide useful constraints to the amplitude and slope of the submillimeter continuum, which in turn may be useful for the improved calibration of other submillimeter instruments.

Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimetry Using Correlation Receivers with the PIQUE and CAPMAP Experiments

The Princeton IQU Experiment (PIQUE) and the Cosmic Anisotropy Polarization Mapper (CAPMAP) are experiments designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on sub-degree scales in anareawithin1 � of theNorthCelestialPole usingheterodynecorrelationpolarimetersand off-axistelescopeslocated in central New Jersey. PIQUE produced the tightest limit on the CMB polarization prior to its detection by DASI, while CAPMAP has recently detected polarization at ‘ � 1000. The experimental methods and instrumentation for these two projects are described in detail with emphasis on the particular challenges involved in measuring the tiny polarized component of the CMB. Subject headingg cosmic microwave background — cosmology: observations — instrumentation: polarimeters Online material: color figures

A search for anisotrophy in the cosmic microwave background on intermediate angular scales

The results of a search for anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background on angular scales near 1 deg are presented. Observations were simultaneously performed in bands centered at frequencies of 6, 9, and 12 per cm with a multifrequency bolometric receiver mounted on a balloon-borne telescope. The statistical sensitivity of the data is the highest reported to date at this angular scale, which is of critical importance for understanding the formation of structure in the universe. Signals in excess of random were observed in the data. The experiment, data analysis, and interpretation are described.

THE Q/U IMAGING EXPERIMENT: POLARIZATION MEASUREMENTS OF THE GALACTIC PLANE AT 43 AND 95 GHz

We present polarization observations of two Galactic plane fields centered on Galactic coordinates (l, b) = (0°, 0°) and (329°, 0°) at both Q (43 GHz) and W bands (95 GHz), covering between 301 and 539 square degrees depending on frequency and field. These measurements were made with the QUIET instrument between 2008 October and 2010 December, and include a total of 1263 hr of observations. The resulting maps represent the deepest large-area Galactic polarization observations published to date at the relevant frequencies with instrumental rms noise varying between 1.8 and 2.8 μK deg, 2.3–6 times deeper than corresponding WMAP and Planck maps. The angular resolution is 27!3 and 12!8 FWHM at Q and W bands, respectively. We find excellent agreement between the QUIET and WMAP maps over the entire fields, and no compelling evidence for significant residual instrumental systematic errors in either experiment, whereas the Planck 44 GHz map deviates from these in a manner consistent with reported systematic uncertainties for this channel. We combine QUIET and WMAP data to compute inverse-variance-weighted average maps, effectively retaining small angular scales from QUIET and large angular scales from WMAP. From these combined maps, we derive constraints on several important astrophysical quantities, including a robust detection of polarized synchrotron spectral index steepening of ≈0.2 off the plane, as well as the Faraday rotation measure toward the Galactic center (RM = −4000 ± 200 rad m^(−2)), all of which are consistent with previously published results. Both the raw QUIET and the co-added QUIET+WMAP maps are made publicly available together with all necessary ancillary information.

Calibrating CMB polarization telescopes

Instruments for measuring the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) must be designed for accuracy as well as precision. The requirement for precision translates into a need for detectors with unprecedented sensitivity. Accuracy requires good methods for calibrating the response of the instrument to small polarized signals superimposed on large unpolarized signals. Since well-characterized polarized astrophysical millimeter sources are in short supply, we present an alternative method here. A flat metal plate is mounted in front of the telescope and nutated about a vertical axis, providing a varying polarized signal of amplitude near 30 mK.

THE Q/U IMAGING EXPERIMENT: POLARIZATION MEASUREMENTS OF RADIO SOURCES AT 43 AND 95 GHz

We present polarization measurements of extragalactic radio sources observed during the cosmic microwave background polarization survey of the Q/U Imaging Experiment (QUIET), operating at 43 GHz (Q-band) and 95 GHz (W-band). We examine sources selected at 20 GHz from the public, >40 mJy catalog of the Australia Telescope (AT20G) survey. There are ~480 such sources within QUIETs four low-foreground survey patches, including the nearby radio galaxies Centaurus A and Pictor A. The median error on our polarized flux density measurements is 30–40 mJy per Stokes parameter. At signal-to-noise ratio > 3 significance, we detect linear polarization for seven sources in Q-band and six in W-band; only 1.3 ± 1.1 detections per frequency band are expected by chance. For sources without a detection of polarized emission, we find that half of the sources have polarization amplitudes below 90 mJy (Q-band) and 106 mJy (W-band), at 95% confidence. Finally, we compare our polarization measurements to intensity and polarization measurements of the same sources from the literature. For the four sources with WMAP and Planck intensity measurements >1 Jy, the polarization fractions are above 1% in both QUIET bands. At high significance, we compute polarization fractions as much as 10%–20% for some sources, but the effects of source variability may cut that level in half for contemporaneous comparisons. Our results indicate that simple models—ones that scale a fixed polarization fraction with frequency—are inadequate to model the behavior of these sources and their contributions to polarization maps.

BLAST: Study of the Earliest Stages of Galactic Star Formation

The Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) is, until the regular operation of Herschel satellite, the most powerful submillimeter mapping telescope in the world. By operating above most of the atmosphere, BLAST provides a sensitivity (and therefore mapping speed) approximately an order-of-magnitude faster than any other existing submillimeter facilities in terms of detecting compact cores and even a greater improvement in terms of measuring diffuse structures in the interstellar medium (ISM). Using its three-band photometry at 250, 350, and 500 μm, BLAST samples the peak of the spectral energy distribution of the coldest starless cores, providing the critical coverage needed to constrain masses, luminosities, and temperatures. In this contribution we present a general description of the telescope and summarize the observations performed during the 2005 and 2006 Long Duration Balloon flights. In addition, we describe the Vela Molecular Ridge, a region extensively observed by BLAST, and discuss some of our preliminary results.