Very long baseline interferometry radio structure and radio brightening of the high-energy neutrino emitting blazar TXS 0506+056
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This summary of the second Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry (TVLBAI) Workshop provides a comprehensive overview of our meeting held in London in April 2024 (Second Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop, Imperial College, April 2024), building on the initial discussions during the inaugural workshop held at CERN in March 2023 (First Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop, CERN, March 2023). Like the summary of the first workshop (Abend et al. in AVS Quantum Sci. 6:024701, 2024), this document records a critical milestone for the international atom interferometry community. It documents our concerted efforts to evaluate progress, address emerging challenges, and refine strategic directions for future large-scale atom interferometry projects. Our commitment to collaboration is manifested by the integration of diverse expertise and the coordination of international resources, all aimed at advancing the frontiers of atom interferometry physics and technology, as set out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by over 50 institutions (Memorandum of Understanding for the Terrestrial Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometer Study).
This paper describes an investigation and comparison of the approach-phase orbit determination performance of delta-Very Long Baseline Interferometry (delta VLBI) and Connected Element Interferometry (CEI) data types when used in conjunction with conventional two-way Doppler data. Simulated data sets containing Doppler plus delta VLBI data and Doppler plus CEI data are used to calculate approximate orbit determination accuracy statistics for representative approach trajectories drawn from future robotic missions to Mars and Jupiter. The results illustrate the theoretical performance of CEI data acquired from short (20 km) baselines relative to that obtained with delta VLBI using the intercontinental baselines currently available within the NASA/JPL Deep Space Network.
Very long baseline interferometry using natural radio sources was investigated as a possible time transfer method. Antennas were linked using a synchronous communications satellite instead of the customary independent frequency standards and tape recorders. A successful preliminary time transfer was performed using a wideband data link that was accurate at the 100 nanosecond level, and frequency standards were compared to a part in 10 to the minus thirteenth power over a 24 hour period using a phase coherent satellite link. The narrow band phase coherent link method is potentially capable of timing accuracy of 10 picoseconds, and frequency comparison accuracy of 10 to the minus sixteenth power, and is in addition economical of spectrum usage.
This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more km-scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions.
Very-long-baseline interferometry offers advantages over conventional Doppler measurements. Conference paper shows feasibility of using data from very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) to locate and predict motion of satellites in highly elliptical orbits about Earth. VLBI data obtained from Deep Space Network. Data not only improves navigation accuracy but also acquired with less use of worldwide network of ground stations.
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The results of the Pioneer Venus differential long-baseline interferometry experiment are presented. The velocity component of the Pioneer probes as they fell to the surface of Venus was calculated from the Doppler shift of the received signal, and the other two orthogonal components were determined by long-baseline interferometry. The ambient wind velocity was about 1 m/s or less near the surface of the planet and about 100 m/s at an altitude of about 65 km at all four probe locations. Strata of high wind shear were found at altitudes of 15, 45, and 60 km. The wind velocity was always directed within a few degrees of due west except at a few km above the surface. The dominant motion of the lower atmosphere seems to be a retrograde zonal rotation, and eddies appear to account for most of the instantaneous meridional velocity. The data suggest that, within the clouds, a thermally driven mean meridional circulation is superimposed upon the much more rapid zonal rotation.
Very-long-baseline interferometry experiments, involving observations of extragalactic radio sources, were performed in 1969 to determine the vector separations between antenna sites in Massachusetts and West Virginia. The 845.130-kilometer baseline was estimated from two separate experiments. The results agreed with each other to within 2 meters in all three components and with a special geodetic survey to within 2 meters in length; the differences in baseline direction as determined by the survey and by interferometry corresponded to discrepancies of about 5 meters. The experiments also yielded positions for nine extragalactic radio sources and allowed the hydrogen maser clocks at the two sites to be synchronized.
The very long baseline interferometry capability as well as the planned capability of the deep space network (DSN) are described. Major emphasis is placed on the following: VLBI development; operational VLBI for DSN calibration; and VLBI for spacecraft navigation.
Report proposes use of differential very-long-baseline interferometry to measure accurately angular separation, viewed from Earth, of two spacecraft near another planet. One spacecraft would be in orbit around planet on trajectory already determined accurately, relative to planet, by conventional Doppler tracking. Other spacecraft would be approaching planet. Use of differential very-long-baseline interferometry "tie" between two spacecraft and previously determined "tie" between orbiter and planet increases accuracy of navigation of approaching spacecraft relative to planet.
A systematic bias causing a statistically significant drift between group delay and phase delay measurements in geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)has long been present. The cause of this drift remains unknown, although it is readily reproduced in VLBI experiments including a short baseline such as those conducted with the twin 13-meter telescopes at the Wettzell observatory, given the station names WETTZ13N and WETTZELL. This statistical incompatibility has been an obstacle in adopting phase delays in routine VLBI processing. The aim of this study is to provide additional evidence to aid in identifying the source of this systematic bias. A series of four regular VLBI experiments are processed with both group delays and phase delays, and post fit residuals, estimated positions, and clock functions are presented with and without phase calibration applied. These results are also computed for individual intermediate frequency bands.
Nine separate very-long-baseline interferometry experiments, carried out in 1972 and 1973 with radio telescopes 3900 kilometers apart, yielded values for the baseline length with an rms deviation about the mean of less than 20 centimeters. The corresponding fractional spread is about five parts in 100,000,000. Changes in universal time and in polar motion were also determined accurately from these data. The rms scatter of these results with respect to those based on optical methods was 2.9 msec and 1.3 m, respectively. Solid-earth tides were apparently detected, but no useful estimate of their amplitude was extracted.
We investigate the origin of the elliptical ring structure observed in the images of the supermassive black hole M87*, aiming to disentangle contributions from gravitational, astrophysical, and imaging effects. Leveraging the enhanced capabilities of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)'s 2018 array, including improved (u,v)-coverage from the Greenland Telescope, we measured the ring's ellipticity using five independent imaging methods, obtaining a consistent average value of τ = 0.08−0.02+0.03 with a position angle of ξ = 50.1−7.6+6.2 degrees. To interpret this measurement, we compared it to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations spanning a wide range of physical parameters including the thermal or nonthermal electron distribution function, spins, and ion-to-electron temperature ratios in both low- and high-density regions. We find no statistically significant correlation between spin and ellipticity in GRMHD images. Instead, we identify a correlation between ellipticity and the fraction of non-ring emission, particularly in nonthermal models and models with higher jet emission. These results indicate that the ellipticity measured from the M87* emission structure is consistent with that expected from simulations of turbulent accretion flows around black holes, where it is dominated by astrophysical effects rather than gravitational ones. Future high-resolution imaging, including space very long baseline interferometry and long-term monitoring, will be essential to isolate gravitational signatures from astrophysical effects.Key words: accretion, accretion disks / black hole physics / gravitation / galaxies: active** These authors have contributed equally to this work.*** NASA Hubble Fellowship Program, Einstein Fellow.† Deceased.
Narrow-angle astrometry has many astrophysical applications, from the measurement of parallaxes to the search for planets around nearby stars. Ground-based long-focus telescopes with photoelectric detectors have achieved accuracies of about 2-3 milliarcsec in 1 h. This accuracy is limited primarily by the atmosphere, and is consistent with models of atmospheric turbulence. However, applying these turbulence models to observations with long-baseline interferometers yields astrometric errors that are far smaller than can be achieved with long-focus telescopes. The predictions for the ultimate accuracy of ground-based narrow-angle astrometry using long-baseline IR (2.2 micron) stellar interferometers are very promising. With the excellent seeing at a high altitude site like Mauna Kea, the atmospheric limit for a 1 h astrometric measurement is expected to be of the order of 10 microarcsec for 1 h of integration. This two-order-of-magnitude improvement over conventional measurements is due to two effects. One is that a long-baseline IR interferometer can find useful reference stars very near an arbitrary target star, so that the atmospherically-induced motions of both stars are highly correlated. The second is that the baseline length can be much larger than the separation of the stellar beams in the turbulent atmosphere, resulting in a reduction in astrometric error with increasing baseline length.
We investigated the jet width profile with distance along the jet in the nearby radio galaxy NGC 1052 at radial distances between ∼300 and 4 × 10{sup 7} Schwarzschild radii (R {sub S}) from the central engine on both their approaching and receding jet sides. The width of jets was measured in images obtained with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Space Observatory Programme, the Very Long Baseline Array, and the Very Large Array. The jet width profiles of receding jets are apparently consistent with those of approaching jets throughout the measuring distance ranges, indicating symmetry at least up to the sphere of gravitational influence of the central black hole. The power-law index a of the jet width profile (w {sub jet} ∝ r {sup a}, where w {sub jet} is the jet width, r is the distance from the central engine in the unit of R {sub S}) apparently shows a transition from a ∼ 0 to a ∼ 1, i.e., the cylindrical-to-conical jet structures, at a distance of ∼1 × 10{sup 4} R {sub S}. The cylindrical jet shape at small distances is reminiscent of the innermost jets in 3C 84. Both the central engines of NGC 1052 and 3C 84 are surrounded by dense material, part of which is ionized and causes heavy free–free absorption.
We present a catalogue of accurate positions and correlated flux densities for 410 flat-spectrum, compact extragalactic radio sources previously detected in the Australia Telescope 20 GHz (AT20G) survey. The catalogue spans the declination range [-90deg, -40deg] and was constructed from four 24-h very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observing sessions with the Australian Long Baseline Array at 8.3 GHz. The VLBI detection rate in these experiments is 97 per cent, the median uncertainty of the source positions is 2.6 mas and the median correlated flux density on projected baselines longer than 1000 km is 0.14 Jy. The goals of this work are (1) to provide a pool of southern sources with positions accurate to a few milliarcsec, which can be used for phase-referencing observations, geodetic VLBI and space navigation; (2) to extend the complete flux-limited sample of compact extragalactic sources to the Southern hemisphere; and (3) to investigate the parsec-scale properties of high-frequency selected sources from the AT20G survey. As a result of this VLBI campaign, the number of compact radio sources south of declination -40deg which have measured VLBI correlated flux densities and positions known to milliarcsec accuracy has increased by a factor of 3.5.
A mission is described called ARISE, Advanced Radio Interferometry between Space and Earth. ARISE will will provide affordable very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) using second- generation VLBI and one or more inflatable space radio telescopes.