Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Kazunori Akiyama
Juan-Carlos Algaba
Tao An
Keiichi Asada
Kitiyanee Asanok
Do-Young Byun
Thanapol Chanapote
Wen Chen
Zhong Chen
Xiaopeng Cheng
James O. Chibueze
Ilje Cho
Se-Hyung Cho
Hyun-Soo Chung
Lang Cui
Yuzhu Cui
Akihiro Doi
Jian Dong
Kenta Fujisawa
Wei Gou
Abstract： The East Asian VLBI Network (EAVN) is an international VLBI facility in East Asia and is operated under mutual collaboration between East Asian countries, as well as part of Southeast Asian and European countries. EAVN currently consists of 16 radio telescopes and three correlators located in China, Japan, and Korea, and is operated mainly at three frequency bands, 6.7, 22, and 43 GHz with the longest baseline length of 5078 km, resulting in the highest angular resolution of 0.28 milliarcseconds at 43 GHz. One of distinct capabilities of EAVN is multi-frequency simultaneous data reception at nine telescopes, which enable us to employ the frequency phase transfer technique to obtain better sensitivity at higher observing frequencies. EAVN started its open-use program in the second half of 2018, providing a total observing time of more than 1100 hours in a year. EAVN fills geographical gap in global VLBI array, resulting in enabling us to conduct contiguous high-resolution VLBI observations. EAVN has produced various scientific accomplishments especially in observations toward active galactic nuclei, evolved stars, and star-forming regions. These activities motivate us to initiate launch of the 'Global VLBI Alliance' to provide an opportunity of VLBI observation with the longest baselines on the earth.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Yuzhu Cui
Kazuhiro Hada
Motoki Kino
Bong Won Sohn
Jongho Park
Hyun Wook Ro
Satoko Sawada-Satoh
Wu Jiang
Lang Cui
Mareki Honma
Zhi Qiang Shen
Fumie Tazaki
Tao An
Ilje Cho
Guang Yao Zhao
Xiao Peng Cheng
Kotaro Niinuma
Kiyoaki Wajima
Ying Kang Zhang
Noriyuki Kawaguchi
Abstract： The East Asian very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) Network (EAVN) is a rapidly evolving international VLBI array that is currently promoted under joint efforts among China, Japan, and Korea. EAVN aims at forming a joint VLBI Network by combining a large number of radio telescopes distributed over East Asian regions. After the combination of the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) and the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) into KaVA, further expansion with the joint array in East Asia is actively promoted. Here we report the first imaging results (at 22 and 43 GHz) of bright radio sources obtained with KaVA connected to Tianma 65-m and Nanshan 26-m Radio Telescopes in China. To test the EAVN imaging performance for different sources, we observed four active galactic nuclei (AGN) having different brightness and morphology. As a result, we confirmed that Tianma 65-m Radio Telescope (TMRT) significantly enhances the overall array sensitivity, a factor of 4 improvement in baseline sensitivity and 2 in image dynamic range compared to the case of KaVA only. The addition of Nanshan 26-m Radio Telescope (NSRT) further doubled the east-west angular resolution. With the resulting high-dynamic-range, high-resolution images with EAVN (KaVA+TMRT+NSRT), various fine-scale structures in our targets, such as the counter-jet in M87, a kink-like morphology of the 3C273 jet and the weak emission in other sources, are successfully detected. This demonstrates the powerful capability of EAVN to study AGN jets and to achieve other science goals in general. Ongoing expansion of EAVN will further enhance the angular resolution, detection sensitivity and frequency coverage of the network.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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