LOFAR/H-ATLAS: a deep low-frequency survey of the Herschel-ATLAS North Galactic Pole field
Journal article, 2016

We present Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) High-Band Array observations of the Herschel-ATLAS North Galactic Pole survey area. The survey we have carried out, consisting of four pointings covering around 142 deg(2) of sky in the frequency range 126-173 MHz, does not provide uniform noise coverage but otherwise is representative of the quality of data to be expected in the planned LOFAR wide-area surveys, and has been reduced using recently developed 'facet calibration' methods at a resolution approaching the full resolution of the data sets (similar to 10 x 6 arcsec) and an rms off-source noise that ranges from 100 mu Jy beam(-1) in the centre of the best fields to around 2 mJy beam(-1) at the furthest extent of our imaging. We describe the imaging, cataloguing and source identification processes, and present some initial science results based on a 5 sigma source catalogue. These include (i) an initial look at the radio/far-infrared correlation at 150 MHz, showing that many Herschel sources are not yet detected by LOFAR; (ii) number counts at 150 MHz, including, for the first time, observational constraints on the numbers of star-forming galaxies; (iii) the 150-MHz luminosity functions for active and star-forming galaxies, which agree well with determinations at higher frequencies at low redshift, and show strong redshift evolution of the star-forming population; and (iv) some discussion of the implications of our observations for studies of radio galaxy life cycles.

function

galaxies

star-formation history

sky survey

galaxies

active

luminosity

infrared

sdss-iii

demonstration phase

radio continuum

infrared-radio correlation

science

wide-field

less-than 1.0

galaxies

mass-selected galaxies

forming galaxies

Author

M. J. Hardcastle

University of Hertfordshire

G. Gurkan

University of Hertfordshire

R. J. van Weeren

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

W. L. Williams

University of Hertfordshire

P. N. Best

Royal Observatory

F. De Gasperin

Leiden University

D. Rafferty

University of Hamburg

S. C. Read

University of Hertfordshire

J. Sabater

Royal Observatory

T. W. Shimwell

Leiden University

D. J. B. Smith

University of Hertfordshire

C. Tasse

Paris Diderot University

N. Bourne

Royal Observatory

M. Brienza

University of Groningen

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

M. Brüggen

University of Hamburg

G. Brunetti

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

K.T. Chyz̊y

Jagiellonian University in Kraków

John Conway

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Onsala Space Observatory

L. Dunne

Cardiff University

Royal Observatory

S. Eales

Jagiellonian University in Kraków

S. J. Maddox

Royal Observatory

Cardiff University

M. J. Jarvis

University of Oxford

University of the Western Cape

E. Mahony

ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO)

The University of Sydney

R. Morganti

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

University of Groningen

I. Prandoni

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

H. Rottgering

Leiden University

E. Valiante

Cardiff University

G. J. White

Open University

STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

0035-8711 (ISSN) 1365-2966 (eISSN)

Vol. 462 2 1910-1936

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Infrastructure

Onsala Space Observatory

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stw1763

More information

Latest update

9/15/2023