A Crash Course in Submillimetre

Astronomy and Interferometry

James Di Francesco
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
North American ALMA Regional Center Victoria
(thanks to S. Dougherty, C. Chandler, D. Wilner & C. Brogan)
The recent arrival of the tenth ALMA antenna
After the 3 K cosmic background radiation, mm/submm photons carry
most of the radiative energy in the Universe:
40% of Milky Way photons are in mm/submm

Unique science possible because of sensitivity to thermal emission
from dust and molecular lines:
Why Do We Care About mm/submm?
Methyl Cyanide CH
3
CN
Disks! Astrochemistry! Extragalactic kinematics! High-Z galaxies!
Outline

Basic Radio
Astronomy
Aperture Synthesis
Imaging
Deconvolution
(Sub)mm issues
Basic Radio Astronomy
EM power in bandwidth ov from solid angle oO intercepted by surface oA is:

Intensity & Flux Density

oW = I
v
oOoAov
Defines surface brightness I
v
(W m
-2
Hz
-1
sr
-1
; aka specific intensity)

S
v
= L
v
/ 4td
2
ie. distance dependent
O1/ d
2
I
v
S
v
/O ie. distance independent
Note:
Flux density S
v
(W m
-2
Hz
-1
) integrate brightness over solid angle of
source
Convenient unit the Jansky 1 Jy = 10
-26
W m
-2
Hz
-1
= 10
-23
erg s
-1
cm
-2

Hz
-1



S
v
= I
v
O
s
}
dO
Basic Radio Astronomy
In general surface brightness is position dependent, ie. I
v
= I
v
(u,|)



(if I
v
described by a blackbody in the Rayleigh-Jeans limit; hv/kT << 1)

Back to flux:




In general, a radio telescope maps the temperature distribution of the sky


S
v
= I
v
(
O
s
}
u,)dO =
2kv
2
c
2
T(u,)dO
}

I
v
(u,) =
2kv
2
T(u,)
c
2
Basic Radio Astronomy
Surface Brightness
Many astronomical sources DO NOT emit as blackbodies!
However.

Brightness temperature (T
B
) of a source is defined as the temperature of a
blackbody with the same surface brightness at a given frequency:






This implies that the flux density
Brightness Temperature

S
v
= I
v
O
s
}
dO=
2kv
2
c
2
T
B
dO
}

I
v
=
2kv
2
T
B
c
2
Basic Radio Astronomy
Recall :

oW = I
v
oOoAov

P
rec
=
1
2
I
v
A
e
oO
Telescope of effective area A
e
receives power P
rec
per unit frequency from
an unpolarized source but is only sensitive to one mode of polarization:
Telescope is sensitive to radiation from more than one direction with
relative sensitivity given by the normalized antenna pattern P
N
(u,):

P
rec
=
1
2
A
e
I
v
(u,)P
N
(u,)
4t
}
dO
Basic Radio Astronomy
What does a Radio Telescope Detect?
Nyquist theorem (1929):


P = kT

P
rec
= kT
A

P
rec
=
A
e
2
I
v
(u,)P
N
(u,)
4t
}
dO
T
A
=
A
e
2k
I
v
(u,)P
N
(u,)
4t
}
dO
Antenna temperature is what is observed by the radio telescope.
Power received by the antenna:

A convolution of sky brightness with the beam pattern
It is an inversion problem to determine the source temperature
distribution.

Basic Radio Astronomy
Antenna Temperature
The antenna collects the E-field over the aperture at the focus

The feed horn at the focus adds the fields together, guides signal to
the front end
Basic Radio Astronomy
Radio Telescopes
Amplifier
amplifies a very weak radio frequency (RF) signal, is stable & low noise
Mixer
produces a stable lower, intermediate frequency (IF) signal by mixing
the RF signal with a stable local oscillator (LO) signal, is tunable
Filter selects a narrow signal band out of the IF
Backend either total power detector or more typically today, a correlator
Basic Radio Astronomy
Components of a Heterodyne System
Back end

Power detector/integrator
Correlator

Feed Horn
Antenna
response is a
coherent phase
summation of the
E-field at the
focus

First null occurs
at the angle
where one extra
wavelength of
path is added
across the full
aperture width,
i.e., u ~ /D
On-axis
incidence
Off-axis
incidence
Basic Radio Astronomy
Origin of the Beam Pattern
Defines telescope
resolution
Basic Radio Astronomy
Antenna Power Pattern
The voltage response pattern is the FT of the aperture distribution
The power response pattern, P(u ) V
2
(u ), is the FT of the
autocorrelation function of the aperture
for a uniform circle, V(u ) is J
1
(x)/x and P(u ) is the Airy pattern,
(J
1
(x)/x)
2

The antenna beam solid
angle on the sky is:

O
A
= P(u,|)dO
4t
}
Sidelobes
NB: rear
lobes!
Basic Radio Astronomy
The Beam
u () D
0.35 508 m SMA
4.5

50m LMT
15 15m JCMT
103 1.7m AST/RO
0.012 15 km ALMA
Telescope beams @ 345 GHz
Unfortunately, the telescope system itself contributes noise to the the signal
detected by the telescope, i.e.,

P
out
= P
A
+ P
sys
T
out
= T
A
+ T
sys

The system temperature, T
sys
, represents noise added by the system:

T
sys
= T
bg
+ T
sky
+ T
spill
+ T
loss
+ T
cal
+ T
rx


T
bg
= microwave and galactic background (3K, except below 1GHz)
T
sky
= atmospheric emission (increases with frequency--dominant in mm)
T
spill
= ground radiation (via sidelobes) (telescope design)
T
loss
= losses in the feed and signal transmission system (design)
T
cal
= injected calibrator signal (usually small)
T
rx
= receiver system (often dominates at cm a design challenge)

Note that T
bg
, T
sky
, and T
spill
vary with sky position and T
sky
is time variable
Basic Radio Astronomy
Sensitivity (Noise)
In the mm/submm regime, T
sky
is the challenge (especially at
low elevations)
In general, T
rx
is essentially at the quantum limit, and T
rx
< T
sky


< 175 602-720 Band 9
< 83 275-370 Band 7
< 83 211-275 Band 6
< 37 84-116 Band 3
T
rx

(K)
GHz
ALMA T
rx


Basic Radio Astronomy
Sensitivity (Noise)
Dry component: O
2
Wet component: H
2
O

Q: How can you detect T
A
(signal) in the presence of T
sys
(noise)?
A: The signal is correlated from one sample to the next but the noise is not

For bandwidth Av, samples taken less than At = 1/Av are not independent
(another Nyquist theorem!)
Time t contains independent samples


v t t A = A = t N /

AT
A
T
sys
=
1
t Av
SNR =
T
A
AT
A
=
T
A
T
sys
t Av
Radiometer equation

N / 1
For Gaussian noise, total error for N samples
is
that of single
sample
Basic Radio Astronomy
Sensitivity (Noise)
Aperture Synthesis
Signals at each point in the aperture are brought together in phase
at the antenna output (the focus)
Imagine the aperture to be subdivided into N smaller elementary
areas; the voltage, V(t), at the output is the sum of the contributions
AV
i
(t) from the N individual aperture elements:


V(t) = AV
i
(t)

Aperture Synthesis
Output of a Filled Aperture
The radio power measured by a receiver attached to the telescope
is proportional to a running time average of the square of the output
voltage:




Any measurement with the large filled-aperture telescope can be
written as a sum, in which each term depends on contributions from
only two of the N aperture elements
Each term (AV
i
AV
k
) can be measured with two small antennas, if we
place them at locations i and k and measure the average product of
their output voltages with a correlation (multiplying) receiver

P AV
i

( )
2
= AV
i
AV
k
( )

= AV
i
2

+ AV
i
AV
k
i=k

Aperture Synthesis
Aperture Synthesis: Basic Concept
If the source emission is unchanging, there is no need to measure
all the pairs at one time
One could imagine sequentially combining pairs of signals. For N
sub-apertures there will be N(N-1)/2 pairs to combine
Adding together all the terms effectively synthesizes one
measurement taken with a large filled-aperture telescope
Can synthesize apertures much larger than can be constructed as a
filled aperture, giving very good spatial resolution
Aperture Synthesis
Aperture Synthesis: Basic Concept
What is the interferometer response as a function of sky position, l = sino
?
In direction s
0
(o = 0) the
wavefront arriving at
telescope #1 has an extra
path b s
0
= b sinu to
travel relative to #2

The time taken to traverse this
extra path is the geometric
delay, t
g
= b s
0
/c

This delay is compensated for
by inserting a signal path
delay for #2 equivalent to t
g
Aperture Synthesis
A Simple 2-Element Interferometer
At angle o
,
a wavefront has an extra path x = u sino = ul to travel
Expand to 2D by introducing |
orthogonal to o, m = sin|,
and v orthogonal to u, so
that in this direction the
extra path y = vm

Write all distances in units of
wavelength, x x/, u u/,
etc., so that x and y are
now numbers of cycles

Extra path is now ul + vm
V
2

= V
1
e
-2ti(ul+vm)


Aperture Synthesis
Response of a 2-Element
Interferometer
The output from the correlator (the multiplying and time-averaging
device) is:


For (l
1
=l
2
, m
1
=m
2
) the above average is zero (assuming mutual sky),
so

C = V
1
V
2
= V
1
(l,m)dldm
}}
V
2
(l,m)dldm
}}

C = V
1
(l,m)V
2
(l,m)dldm
}}

= V
1
(l,m)V
2
(l,m) dldm
}}

= V
1
(l, m)
2
e
2ti(ul +vm)
dldm
}}

= I(l, m)e
2ti(ul +vm)
dldm
}}
Aperture Synthesis
Correlator Output
Thus, the interferometer measures the complex visibility, V, of
a source, which is the FT of its intensity distribution on the
sky:



u,v are spatial frequencies in the E-W and N-S directions,
are the projected baseline lengths measured in units of
wavelength, i.e., B/
l, m are direction cosines relative to a reference position in
the E-W and N-S directions
(l = 0, m = 0) is known as the phase center
the phase | contains information about the location of
structure with spatial frequency u,v relative to the phase
center


V (u,v) = Ae
i|
= I(l, m)e
2ti(ul +vm)
dldm
}}
Aperture Synthesis
The Complex Visibility
This FT relationship is the van Cittert-Zernike theorem, upon
which synthesis imaging is based
It means there is an inverse FT relationship that enables us to
recover I(l,m) from V(u,v):




The correlator measures both real and imaginary parts of the
visibility to give the amplitude and phase:


V (u,v) = I(l, m)e
2ti(ul +vm)
dldm
}}


I(l, m) = V (u,v)e
2ti(ul +vm)
}}
dudv

A = 9
2
+
2

| = tan
1

9
|
\

|
.
|

9
A=|V |
|
Aperture Synthesis
The Complex Visibility
Fourier theory states that any signal (including images)
can be expressed as a sum of sinusoids
Jean Baptiste
Joseph Fourier
1768-1830
signal 4 sinusoids sum
Aperture Synthesis
The Fourier Transform


the Fourier Transform contains all information of the original




(x,y) plane and (u,v) plane are conjugate coordinate systems
I(x,y) V(u,v) = FT{I(x,y)}
I(x,y)





narrow features transform to wide features (and vice-versa)

Amp{V(u,v)}





Gaussian
o Function
Constant
Gaussian
Aperture Synthesis
Some 2-D Fourier Transform Pairs
elliptical
Gaussian
sharp edges result in many high spatial frequencies

elliptical
Gaussian
Disk
Bessel
Aperture Synthesis
More 2-D Fourier Transform Pairs
I(x,y)





Amp{V(u,v)}





complex numbers: (real, imaginary) or (amplitude, phase)
amplitude tells how much of a certain spatial frequency
component
phase tells where this component is located

I(x,y)





Amp{V(u,v)}





Pha{V(u,v)}





Aperture Synthesis
Amplitude and Phase
complex numbers: (real, imaginary) or (amplitude, phase)
amplitude tells how much of a certain spatial frequency
component
phase tells where this component is located

I(x,y)





Amp{V(u,v)}





Pha{V(u,v)}





Aperture Synthesis
Amplitude and Phase
The FT of a single visibility measurement is a sinusoid with spacing
1/u = /B between successive peaks, or fringes
Build up an image of the sky by summing many such sinusoids
(addition theorem)
FT scaling theorem shows:
Short baselines have large
fringe spacings and measure
large-scale structure on the sky
Long baselines have small
fringe spacings and measure
small-scale structure on the sky
+ + + Fringe Sign
/B rad.
Source
brightness
Aperture Synthesis
Picturing the Visibility: Fringes
34
sample V(u,v) at enough points to synthesize the equivalent large
aperture of size (u
max
,v
max
)
1 pair of telescopes 1 (u,v) sample at a time
N telescopes number of samples = N(N-1)/2
fill in (u,v) plane by making use of Earth rotation:
Sir Martin Ryle, 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics
reconfigure physical layout of N telescopes for more

2 configurations
of 8 SMA antennas
345 GHz
Dec = -24 deg
Sir Martin Ryle
1918-1984
Aperture Synthesis
Aperture Synthesis
Imaging
in aperture synthesis, V(u,v) samples are limited by number of
telescopes, and Earth-sky geometry






high spatial frequencies:
maximum angular resolution

low spatial frequencies:
extended structures
invisible
(aka. only a max scale can
be imaged; also ``zero-
spacing problem = no large
scales)

irregular within high/low limits:
sampling theorem violated
still more information
missing

Imaging
(u,v) Plane Sampling
sample Fourier domain at discrete points, i.e.,


the inverse Fourier transform of this is


But the convolution theorem tells us


where (the point spread function)

Fourier transform of sampled visibilities yields the true sky brightness
convolved with the point spread function

(the dirty image is the true image convolved with the dirty beam)

Formal Description
I
I
I
Imaging
B(u,v)
I
D
(x,y)
(dirty
image)
b(x,y)
(dirty
beam)
I(x,y)
Dirty Beam and Dirty Image
Imaging
2 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
3 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
4 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
5 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
6 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
7 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas x 6 Samples
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas x 30 Samples
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas x 60 Samples
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas x 120 Samples
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas x 240 Samples
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
8 Antennas x 480 Samples
Dirty Beam Shape and N Antennas
Imaging
uv plane analysis
best for simple sources, e.g., point sources, disks
image plane analysis
Fourier transform V(u,v) samples to image plane, get I
D
(x,y)
but difficult to do science on dirty image
deconvolve b(x,y) from I
D
(x,y) to determine (model of) I(x,y)

visibilities dirty image sky brightness
How to analyze interferometer data?
Imaging

Visibility Weighting in the FT:
Including weighting function W to modify dirty beam sidelobes:

natural weighting: density of uv-coverage = highest compact
flux sensitivity
uniform weighting: extent of uv-coverage = highest resolution
robust weighting: compromise between natural and uniform
tapering: downweights high spatial frequencies = higher
extended flux sensitivity
Weighting and Tapering
Imaging
imaging parameters provide a lot of freedom
appropriate choice depends on science goals
NB: Primary Beam FWHM is the Field-of-View of a single-
pointing interferometric image

Robust 0
+ Taper
0.77x0.62

o = 1.7
Natural
0.77x0.62

o = 1.0
Uniform
0.39x0.31

o = 3.7
Robust 0
0.41x0.36

o = 1.6
Weighting and Tapering: Examples
Imaging
Deconvolution
difficult to do science on dirty image
deconvolve b(x,y) from I
D
(x,y) to recover I(x,y)
information is missing, so be careful! (theres noise, too)
dirty image CLEAN image
Deconvolution
Deconvolution
Deconvolution:
uses non-linear techniques effectively interpolate/extrapolate
samples of V(u,v) into unsampled regions of the (u,v) plane
aims to find a sensible model of I(x,y) compatible with data
requires a priori assumptions about I(x,y)

CLEAN (Hgbom 1974) is most common algorithm in radio astronomy
a priori assumption: I(x,y) is a collection of point sources
variants for computational efficiency, extended structure

deconvolution requires knowledge of beam shape and image noise
properties (usually OK for aperture synthesis)
atmospheric seeing can modify effective beam shape
deconvolution process can modify image noise properties
Deconvolution Algorithms
Deconvolution

1. Initialize
a residual map to the dirty map
a CLEAN component list
2. Identify strongest feature in
residual map as a point source
3. Add a fraction g (the loop gain) of
this point source to the clean
component list (g ~ 0.05-0.3)
4. Subtract the fraction g times b(x,y)
from residual map
5. If stopping criteria
*
not reached, go
back to step 2 (an iteration), or
6. Convolve CLEAN component (cc)
list with an estimate of the main
dirty beam lobe (i.e., the CLEAN
beam) and add residual map to
make the final restored image
b(x,y)
I
D
(x,y)
Basic CLEAN Algorithm
I(x,y)
Deconvolution
* Stopping criteria = N x rms (if noise limited), or I
max
/N (if dynamic
range limited), where N is some arbitrarily chosen value
restored
image
residual
map
CLEAN
model
I
D
(x,y)
CLEAN
Deconvolution
CLEAN beam size:
natural choice is to fit the central peak of the dirty beam
with elliptical Gaussian
unit of deconvolved map is Jy per CLEAN beam area
(= intensity, can convert to brightness temperature)
minimize unit problems when adding dirty map residuals
modest super resolution often OK, but be careful

photometry should be done with caution
CLEAN does not conserve flux (extrapolates)
extended structure missed, attenuated, distorted
phase errors (e.g. seeing) can spread signal around
Restored Images
Deconvolution
dynamic range
ratio of peak brightness to rms noise in a region
void of emission (common in astronomy)
an easy to calculate lower limit to the error in
brightness in a non-empty region

fidelity
difference between any produced image and the correct image
a convenient measure of how accurately it is possible to make an
image that reproduces the brightness distribution on the sky
need a priori knowledge of correct image to calculate

fidelity image = input model / difference
fidelity is the inverse of the relative error
Measures of Image Quality
Deconvolution
(Sub)mm Issues
(sub)mm issues
(PWV = Precipitable Water Vapour)
Opacity as a Function of PWV
Variations in the amount of precipitable water vapour (PWV) cause phase
fluctuations, which are worse at higher frequencies, resulting in
Low coherence (loss of sensitivity)
Anomalous pointing offsets
Anomalous delay offsets
Patches of air with different water vapor content
(and hence index of refraction) affect the
incoming wave front differently.
Simplifying assumption:
The timescale for changes in the water
vapor distribution is long compared to
time for wind to carry features over the
array
V
w
~10 m/s
Atmospheric Phase Fluctuations
Can be ameliorated by short integration
times, fast switching, WV radiometry
(sub)mm issues
Pointing: for a 10 m antenna at 350 GHz, primary beam is ~20
- a 3 error A(Gain) = 5% at pointing center, 22% at PB FWHM
- need ~1 pointing accuracy, ALMA pointing goal ~ 0.6



Aperture efficiency, q: Ruze formula gives q = exp([4to
rms
/]
2
)
- for q = 80% at 350 GHz, need a surface accuracy, o
rms
, of 30 m
- ALMA surface goal of 25 m
Au = angular separation between
source & calibrator, can be
large in mm/sub-mm
Ab = baseline error
Baseline determination: phase errors due to errors in the telescope
positions are given by:

A| = 2t Ab Au

to keep A| < Au need Ab < /2t
e.g., for = 1.3 mm need Ab < 0.2 mm
(Sub)mm Antenna Requirements
(sub)mm issues
Instrument stability:
Increases linearly with frequency (delay lines, oscillators, etc)

Millimeter/sub-mm receivers:
SIS mixers, cryogenics needed to achieve low noise
characteristics

Correlators:
Broad bandwidth needed for sensitivity to thermal continuum and
phase calibration
For 300 km s
-1
line, 1.4 MHz @ 1.4 GHz but 230 MHz @ 230 GHz

Limitations of existing and future arrays:
Small FoV of 12 m antenna @ 230 GHz is ~ 30 mosaics
Limited uv-coverage with small number of elements, ALMA helps!

Other (Sub)mm Issues
(sub)mm issues

Radio Telescopes are cool
Single-dish telescopes have fat beams making details hard to see

Interferometers use optics to achieve high resolutions
Antenna pairs sample the FT of the image plane, an inverse FT of
the ensemble of visibilities returns the image
Resulting images are spatially filtered; only compact emission seen
Dirty images can be deconvolved (with care), e.g., using CLEAN

Submillimetre/millimetre interferometry must contend with issues
High atmospheric opacities and phase variability
Given higher frequencies, all instrumentation must be more precise

Summary