Project code AS107
Description
The aim of the VAST pilot survey is to explore several key aspects of the full VAST survey, while maximising the scientific benefit of these early observations. To do this we will several regions of the sky designed to investigate both the processing challenges of complex regions (e.g. the Galactic centre region) and get interesting science (e.g. regions with good existing multi-wavelength coverage).
Current assumptions
The system as used for RACS will be fine for our survey.
Proposal document (if existent):
A plot of our survey regions is shown below.
We have 6 survey regions:
- VAST Regions #1 & #2: CNSS/Stripe 82/FIRST - 68 fields
- VAST Regions #3 & #4: DES/EMU pilot - 38 fields
- VAST Region #5: LowLat - 5 fields
- VAST Region #6: Magellanic Clouds - 2 fields
This is a total of 113 fields.
Telescope configuration
Footprint: square_6x6.
Frequency range: As for RACS “test4” observations.
Interleaving mode: As for RACS “test4” observations.
Target list
We have used the RACS fields as the basis for our survey. The files attached below (VAST_1-6.dat) give the list of fields for each of the 6 VAST regions. Each VAST region should be observed in each epoch.
This should give roughly 10-13 minutes on each field, depending on overheads.
VAST_1.datVAST_2.datVAST_3.datVAST_4.datVAST_5.datVAST_6.dat
Observations for Epoch 1
| SBID | Field | Status | Comments |
| 9674 | vast_epoch1_190828_220000 | OBSERVED | |
| 9673 | vast_epoch1_190828_100000 | OBSERVED | |
| 9669 | vast_epoch1_190828_000000 | OBSERVED | |
| 9668 | vast_epoch1_190827_180000 | OBSERVED | |
| 9667 | vast_epoch1_190827_120000 | PROCESSING | |
| 9666 | bandpass | OBSERVED |
Scheduling constraints
We would like to discuss day/night performance and sun-angle effects to see if these will be significant issues for us.
Processing considerations
We require Stokes I and Stokes V continuum images.
Additional details / future requests
- We would list to discuss LST matching and what is currently possible.
- We would like our epochs spread evening over the pilot period. For example, if the pilot period is a year, we would have 4 epochs separated by 3 months. However, if the pilot period is shortened we would then miss out on some of our time. We’d like to discuss this before settling on the final cadence.
- In terms of scheduling we would like to discuss day/night performance and sun-angle effects to see if these will be significant issues for us.
- Once you have done a draft schedule we’d like to check/discuss the amount of time on each field.