Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif

T. A. Oosterloo; H. K. Vedantham; A. M. Kutkin; E. A. K. Adams; B. Adebahr; A. H. W. M. Coolen; S. Damstra; W. J. G. de Blok; H. Dénes; K. M. Hess; B. Hut; G. M. Loose; D. M. Lucero; Y. Maan; R. Morganti; V. A. Moss; H. Mulder; M. J. Norden; A. R. Offringa; L. C. Oostrum; E. Orrù; M. Ruiter; R. Schulz; R. H. van den Brink; J. M. van der Hulst; J. van Leeuwen; N. J. Vermaas; D. Vohl; S. J. Wijnholds; J. Ziemke

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202038378

Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif

T. A. Oosterloo^*, H. K. Vedantham, A. M. Kutkin, E. A. K. Adams, B. Adebahr, A. H. W. M. Coolen, S. Damstra, W. J. G. de Blok, H. Dénes, K. M. Hess, B. Hut, G. M. Loose, D. M. Lucero, Y. Maan, R. Morganti, V. A. Moss, H. Mulder, M. J. Norden, A. R. Offringa, L. C. OostrumE. Orrù, M. Ruiter, R. Schulz, R. H. van den Brink, J. M. van der Hulst, J. van Leeuwen, N. J. Vermaas, D. Vohl, S. J. Wijnholds, J. Ziemke

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The propagation of radio waves from distant compact radio sources through turbulent interstellar plasma in our Galaxy causes these sources to twinkle, a phenomenon called interstellar scintillation. Such scintillations are a unique probe of the micro-arcsecond structure of radio sources as well as of the sub-AU-scale structure of the Galactic interstellar medium. Weak scintillations (i.e. an intensity modulation of a few percent) on timescales of a few days or longer are commonly seen at centimetre wavelengths and are thought to result from the line-of-sight integrated turbulence in the interstellar plasma of the Milky Way. So far, only three sources were known that show more extreme variations, with modulations at the level of some dozen percent on timescales shorter than an hour. This requires propagation through nearby (d ≲ 10 pc) anomalously dense (ne ∼ 102 cm-3) plasma clouds. Here we report the discovery with Apertif of a source (J1402+5347) showing extreme (∼50%) and rapid variations on a timescale of just 6.5 min in the decimetre band (1.4 GHz). The spatial scintillation pattern is highly anisotropic, with a semi-minor axis of about 20 000 km. The canonical theory of refractive scintillation constrains the scattering plasma to be within the Oort cloud. The sightline to J1402+5347, however, passes unusually close to the B3 star Alkaid (η UMa) at a distance of 32 pc. If the scintillations are associated with Alkaid, then the angular size of J1402+5347 along the minor axis of the scintels must be smaller than ≈10 μas, yielding an apparent brightness temperature for an isotropic source of ≳1014 K. Light curves are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/641/L4

Original language	English
Article number	L4
Number of pages	11
Journal	Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume	641
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038378
Publication status	Published - Sept-2020

Keywords

scattering
ISM: clouds
SCATTERING

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Radio source J1402+5347 1.4GHz light curves
Oosterloo, T. (Contributor), Vedantham, H. (Contributor), Kutkin, A. M. (Contributor), Adams, B. (Contributor), Adebahr, B. (Contributor), Coolen, A. H. W. M. (Contributor), Damstra, S. (Contributor), Blok ,de, E. (Contributor), Dénes, H. (Contributor), Hess, K. (Contributor), Loose, G. M. (Contributor), Lucero, D. (Contributor), Hut, B. (Contributor), Maan, Y. (Contributor), Morganti, R. (Contributor), Moss, V. A. (Contributor), Mulder, H. (Contributor), Norden, M. J. (Contributor), Offringa, A. R. (Contributor), Oostrum, L. C. (Contributor), Orrù, E. (Contributor), Ruiter, M. (Contributor), Schulz, R. (Contributor), Van Den Brink, R. H. (Contributor), van der Hulst, T. (Contributor), Van Leeuwen, J. (Contributor), Vermaas, N. J. (Contributor), Vohl, D. (Contributor), Wijnholds, S. J. (Contributor) & Ziemke, J. (Contributor), University of Groningen, 1-Sept-2020
DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier.36419004
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Oosterloo, T. A., Vedantham, H. K., Kutkin, A. M., Adams, E. A. K., Adebahr, B., Coolen, A. H. W. M., Damstra, S., de Blok, W. J. G., Dénes, H., Hess, K. M., Hut, B., Loose, G. M., Lucero, D. M., Maan, Y., Morganti, R., Moss, V. A., Mulder, H., Norden, M. J., Offringa, A. R., ... Ziemke, J. (2020). Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 641, Article L4. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038378

@article{f68cf343859a4ac6a16a2c01f2551296,

title = "Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif",

abstract = "The propagation of radio waves from distant compact radio sources through turbulent interstellar plasma in our Galaxy causes these sources to twinkle, a phenomenon called interstellar scintillation. Such scintillations are a unique probe of the micro-arcsecond structure of radio sources as well as of the sub-AU-scale structure of the Galactic interstellar medium. Weak scintillations (i.e. an intensity modulation of a few percent) on timescales of a few days or longer are commonly seen at centimetre wavelengths and are thought to result from the line-of-sight integrated turbulence in the interstellar plasma of the Milky Way. So far, only three sources were known that show more extreme variations, with modulations at the level of some dozen percent on timescales shorter than an hour. This requires propagation through nearby (d ≲ 10 pc) anomalously dense (ne ∼ 102 cm-3) plasma clouds. Here we report the discovery with Apertif of a source (J1402+5347) showing extreme (∼50%) and rapid variations on a timescale of just 6.5 min in the decimetre band (1.4 GHz). The spatial scintillation pattern is highly anisotropic, with a semi-minor axis of about 20 000 km. The canonical theory of refractive scintillation constrains the scattering plasma to be within the Oort cloud. The sightline to J1402+5347, however, passes unusually close to the B3 star Alkaid (η UMa) at a distance of 32 pc. If the scintillations are associated with Alkaid, then the angular size of J1402+5347 along the minor axis of the scintels must be smaller than ≈10 μas, yielding an apparent brightness temperature for an isotropic source of ≳1014 K. Light curves are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/641/L4",

keywords = "scattering, ISM: clouds, SCATTERING",

author = "Oosterloo, {T. A.} and Vedantham, {H. K.} and Kutkin, {A. M.} and Adams, {E. A. K.} and B. Adebahr and Coolen, {A. H. W. M.} and S. Damstra and {de Blok}, {W. J. G.} and H. D{\'e}nes and Hess, {K. M.} and B. Hut and Loose, {G. M.} and Lucero, {D. M.} and Y. Maan and R. Morganti and Moss, {V. A.} and H. Mulder and Norden, {M. J.} and Offringa, {A. R.} and Oostrum, {L. C.} and E. Orr{\`u} and M. Ruiter and R. Schulz and {van den Brink}, {R. H.} and {van der Hulst}, {J. M.} and {van Leeuwen}, J. and Vermaas, {N. J.} and D. Vohl and Wijnholds, {S. J.} and J. Ziemke",

year = "2020",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/202038378",

language = "English",

volume = "641",

journal = "Astronomy & Astrophysics",

issn = "0004-6361",

publisher = " EDP Sciences",

}

Oosterloo, TA, Vedantham, HK, Kutkin, AM, Adams, EAK, Adebahr, B, Coolen, AHWM, Damstra, S, de Blok, WJG, Dénes, H, Hess, KM, Hut, B, Loose, GM, Lucero, DM, Maan, Y, Morganti, R, Moss, VA, Mulder, H, Norden, MJ, Offringa, AR, Oostrum, LC, Orrù, E, Ruiter, M, Schulz, R, van den Brink, RH, van der Hulst, JM, van Leeuwen, J, Vermaas, NJ, Vohl, D, Wijnholds, SJ & Ziemke, J 2020, 'Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif', Astronomy & Astrophysics, vol. 641, L4. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038378

TY - JOUR

T1 - Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif

AU - Oosterloo, T. A.

AU - Vedantham, H. K.

AU - Kutkin, A. M.

AU - Adams, E. A. K.

AU - Adebahr, B.

AU - Coolen, A. H. W. M.

AU - Damstra, S.

AU - de Blok, W. J. G.

AU - Dénes, H.

AU - Hess, K. M.

AU - Hut, B.

AU - Loose, G. M.

AU - Lucero, D. M.

AU - Maan, Y.

AU - Morganti, R.

AU - Moss, V. A.

AU - Mulder, H.

AU - Norden, M. J.

AU - Offringa, A. R.

AU - Oostrum, L. C.

AU - Orrù, E.

AU - Ruiter, M.

AU - Schulz, R.

AU - van den Brink, R. H.

AU - van der Hulst, J. M.

AU - van Leeuwen, J.

AU - Vermaas, N. J.

AU - Vohl, D.

AU - Wijnholds, S. J.

AU - Ziemke, J.

PY - 2020/9

Y1 - 2020/9

N2 - The propagation of radio waves from distant compact radio sources through turbulent interstellar plasma in our Galaxy causes these sources to twinkle, a phenomenon called interstellar scintillation. Such scintillations are a unique probe of the micro-arcsecond structure of radio sources as well as of the sub-AU-scale structure of the Galactic interstellar medium. Weak scintillations (i.e. an intensity modulation of a few percent) on timescales of a few days or longer are commonly seen at centimetre wavelengths and are thought to result from the line-of-sight integrated turbulence in the interstellar plasma of the Milky Way. So far, only three sources were known that show more extreme variations, with modulations at the level of some dozen percent on timescales shorter than an hour. This requires propagation through nearby (d ≲ 10 pc) anomalously dense (ne ∼ 102 cm-3) plasma clouds. Here we report the discovery with Apertif of a source (J1402+5347) showing extreme (∼50%) and rapid variations on a timescale of just 6.5 min in the decimetre band (1.4 GHz). The spatial scintillation pattern is highly anisotropic, with a semi-minor axis of about 20 000 km. The canonical theory of refractive scintillation constrains the scattering plasma to be within the Oort cloud. The sightline to J1402+5347, however, passes unusually close to the B3 star Alkaid (η UMa) at a distance of 32 pc. If the scintillations are associated with Alkaid, then the angular size of J1402+5347 along the minor axis of the scintels must be smaller than ≈10 μas, yielding an apparent brightness temperature for an isotropic source of ≳1014 K. Light curves are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/641/L4

AB - The propagation of radio waves from distant compact radio sources through turbulent interstellar plasma in our Galaxy causes these sources to twinkle, a phenomenon called interstellar scintillation. Such scintillations are a unique probe of the micro-arcsecond structure of radio sources as well as of the sub-AU-scale structure of the Galactic interstellar medium. Weak scintillations (i.e. an intensity modulation of a few percent) on timescales of a few days or longer are commonly seen at centimetre wavelengths and are thought to result from the line-of-sight integrated turbulence in the interstellar plasma of the Milky Way. So far, only three sources were known that show more extreme variations, with modulations at the level of some dozen percent on timescales shorter than an hour. This requires propagation through nearby (d ≲ 10 pc) anomalously dense (ne ∼ 102 cm-3) plasma clouds. Here we report the discovery with Apertif of a source (J1402+5347) showing extreme (∼50%) and rapid variations on a timescale of just 6.5 min in the decimetre band (1.4 GHz). The spatial scintillation pattern is highly anisotropic, with a semi-minor axis of about 20 000 km. The canonical theory of refractive scintillation constrains the scattering plasma to be within the Oort cloud. The sightline to J1402+5347, however, passes unusually close to the B3 star Alkaid (η UMa) at a distance of 32 pc. If the scintillations are associated with Alkaid, then the angular size of J1402+5347 along the minor axis of the scintels must be smaller than ≈10 μas, yielding an apparent brightness temperature for an isotropic source of ≳1014 K. Light curves are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/641/L4

KW - scattering

KW - ISM: clouds

KW - SCATTERING

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202038378

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202038378

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 641

JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics

M1 - L4

ER -

Extreme intra-hour variability of the radio source J1402+5347 discovered with Apertif

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Radio source J1402+5347 1.4GHz light curves

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