SYMBA: An end-to-end VLBI synthetic data generation pipeline: Simulating Event Horizon Telescope observations of M 87
Journal article, 2020
Context. Realistic synthetic observations of theoretical source models are essential for our understanding of real observational data. In using synthetic data, one can verify the extent to which source parameters can be recovered and evaluate how various data corruption effects can be calibrated. These studies are the most important when proposing observations of new sources, in the characterization of the capabilities of new or upgraded instruments, and when verifying model-based theoretical predictions in a direct comparison with observational data. Aims. We present the SYnthetic Measurement creator for long Baseline Arrays (SYMBA), a novel synthetic data generation pipeline for Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations. SYMBA takes into account several realistic atmospheric, instrumental, and calibration effects. Methods. We used SYMBA to create synthetic observations for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a millimetre VLBI array, which has recently captured the first image of a black hole shadow. After testing SYMBA with simple source and corruption models, we study the importance of including all corruption and calibration effects, compared to the addition of thermal noise only. Using synthetic data based on two example general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) model images of M 87, we performed case studies to assess the image quality that can be obtained with the current and future EHT array for different weather conditions. Results. Our synthetic observations show that the effects of atmospheric and instrumental corruptions on the measured visibilities are significant. Despite these effects, we demonstrate how the overall structure of our GRMHD source models can be recovered robustly with the EHT2017 array after performing calibration steps, which include fringe fitting, a priori amplitude and network calibration, and self-calibration. With the planned addition of new stations to the EHT array in the coming years, images could be reconstructed with higher angular resolution and dynamic range. In our case study, these improvements allowed for a distinction between a thermal and a non-thermal GRMHD model based on salient features in reconstructed images.
Techniques: interferometric
Telescopes
Techniques: high angular resolution
Atmospheric effects
Black hole physics
Galaxies: nuclei
Author
F. Roelofs
Radboud University
Michael Janssen
Radboud University
Iniyan Natarajan
Rhodes University
R. P. Deane
Rhodes University
Jordy Davelaar
Radboud University
Héctor Olivares
Radboud University
Oliver Porth
Goethe University Frankfurt
S.N. Paine
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. L. Bouman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
R. P. J. Tilanus
Radboud University
I. van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
H.D. Falcke
Radboud University
Kazunori Akiyama
Harvard University
Antxon Alberdi
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
K. Asada
Academia Sinica
R. Azulay
Max Planck Society
A. K. Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislav Baloković
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
W. Boland
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA)
G. C. Bower
Academia Sinica
M. Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
C. D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
D. Broguière
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Do Young Byun
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
A. Chael
Princeton University
Chi Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
S. Chatterjee
Cornell University
Koushik Chatterjee
University of Amsterdam
Ming Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
I. Cho
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Pierre Christian
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
John Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
G. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Yuzhu Cui
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
Goethe University Frankfurt
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Max Planck Society
Jason Dexter
Harvard University
S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ralph P. Eatough
Max Planck Society
V. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
E. Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
R. Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
P. Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Christian M. Fromm
Goethe University Frankfurt
J. L. Gomez
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Peter Galison
Harvard University
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
C. Goddi
Radboud University
R. Gold
Goethe University Frankfurt
Minfeng Gu
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
M. Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Hada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
R. Hesper
University of Groningen
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
P. Ho
Academia Sinica
M. Honma
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
C.L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
D. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
S. Ikeda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
S. Issaoun
Radboud University
David J. James
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Britton Jeter
University of Waterloo
Wu Jiang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
S.G. Jorstad
Boston University
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
R. Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
Tomohisa Kawashima
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
G. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M. M. Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Junhan Kim
Max Planck Society
Jongsoo Kim
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Jae-Young Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
M. Kino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
M. Kramer
Max Planck Society
C. Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
T.P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Cheng Yu Kuo
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Sang Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Yan Rong Li
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
R. Lico
Max Planck Society
Kuo Liu
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto di Radioastronomia
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
A. P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
L. Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
R.S. Lu
Max Planck Society
N. R. Macdonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
S. Markoff
University of Amsterdam
D. P. Marrone
University of Arizona
A. Marscher
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
S. Matsushita
Academia Sinica
L.D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
K. Menten
Max Planck Society
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
James M. Moran
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kotaro Moriyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
M. Mościbrodzka
Radboud University
C. Müller
Radboud University
H. Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
N. M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
R. Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
A. Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
G.N. Ortiz-León
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal Özel
University of Arizona
Daniel C.M. Palumbo
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
N. Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
U. L. Pen
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vincent Piétu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard L. Plambeck
University of California
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Ben Prather
University of Illinois
Jorge A. Preciado-López
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
D. Psaltis
University of Arizona
Hung-Yi Pu
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Concepcion
R. Rao
Academia Sinica
M.G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Bart Ripperda
Princeton University
A. Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Mel Rose
University of Arizona
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
H. Rottmann
Max Planck Society
A. Roy
Max Planck Society
C. Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Benjamin R. Ryan
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Kazi L.J. Rygl
Istituto di Radioastronomia
S. Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David Sánchez-Arguelles
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
T. Savolainen
Max Planck Society
F. P. Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
K. Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Lijing Shao
Max Planck Society
Zhi Qiang Shen
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
B. Won Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Fumie Tazaki
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Paul Tiede
University of Waterloo
M. Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Tohoku University
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
E. Traianou
Max Planck Society
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
S. Trippe
Seoul National University
Shuichiro Tsuda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
H. J. van Langevelde
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
John Wardle
Brandeis University
J. Weintroub
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
M. Wielgus
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
George N. Wong
University of Illinois
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
André Young
Radboud University
K. Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
Goethe University Frankfurt
Feng Yuan
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
A.J. Zensus
Max Planck Society
G. Y. Zhao
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Shan-Shan Zhao
Radboud University
Ziyan Zhu
Harvard University
Astronomy and Astrophysics
0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)
Vol. 636 A5Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Geophysics
Computer Vision and Robotics (Autonomous Systems)
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/201936622