ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5288-312X
Current Organisation
Radboud University Nijmegen
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Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-2021
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 10-2021
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202141071
Abstract: Context. Faraday tomography of a field centred on the extragalactic point source 3C 196 with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) revealed an intertwined structure of diffuse polarised emission with straight depolarisation canals and tracers of the magnetised and multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM), such as dust and line emission from atomic hydrogen (HI). Aims. This study aims at extending the multi-tracer analysis of LOFAR data to three additional fields in the surroundings of the 3C 196 field. For the first time, we study the three-dimensional structure of the LOFAR emission by determining the distance to the depolarisation canals. Methods. We used the rolling Hough transform to compare the orientation of the depolarisation canals with that of the filamentary structure seen in HI, and based on starlight and dust polarisation data, with that of the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field. Stellar parallaxes from Gaia complemented the starlight polarisation with the corresponding distances. Results. Faraday tomography of the three fields shows a rich network of diffuse polarised emission at Faraday depths between − 10 and + 15 rad m −2 . A complex system of straight depolarisation canals resembles that of the 3C 196 field. The depolarisation canals align both with the HI filaments and with the magnetic field probed by dust. The observed alignment suggests that an ordered magnetic field organises the multiphase ISM over a large area (~20°). In one field, two groups of stars at distances below and above 200 pc, respectively, show distinct magnetic field orientations. These are both comparable with the orientations of the depolarisation canals in the same field. We conclude that the depolarisation canals likely trace the same change in the magnetic field as probed by the stars, which corresponds to the edge of the Local Bubble.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 25-01-2019
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201834777
Abstract: Faraday tomography allows us to map diffuse polarized synchrotron emission from our Galaxy and use it to interpret the magnetic field in the interstellar medium (ISM). We have applied Faraday tomography to 60 observations from the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey (LOTSS) and produced a Faraday depth cube mosaic covering 568 square degrees at high Galactic latitudes, at 4.′3 angular resolution and 1 rad m −2 Faraday depth resolution, with a typical noise level of 50–100 μ Jy per point spread function (PSF) per rotation measure spread function (RMSF 40–80 mK RMSF −1 ). While parts of the images are strongly affected by instrumental polarization, we observed diffuse polarized emission throughout most of the field, with typical brightness between 1 and 6 K RMSF −1 , and Faraday depths between − 7 and +25 rad m −2 . We observed many new polarization features, some up to 15° in length. These include two regions with very uniformly structured, linear gradients in the Faraday depth we measured the steepness of these gradients as 2.6 and 13 rad m −2 deg −1 . We also observed a relationship between one of the gradients and an H I filament in the local ISM. Other ISM tracers were also checked for correlations with our polarization data and none were found, but very little signal was seen in most tracers in this region. We conclude that the LOTSS data are very well suited for Faraday tomography, and that a full-scale survey with all the LOTSS data has the potential to reveal many new Galactic polarization features and map out diffuse Faraday depth structure across the entire northern hemisphere.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 07-2022
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039474
Abstract: Context. Magnetic fields in the turbulent interstellar medium (ISM) are a key element in understanding Galactic dynamics, but there are many observational challenges. One useful probe for studying the magnetic field component parallel to the line of sight (LoS) is Faraday rotation of linearly polarized radio synchrotron emission, combined with H α observations. H ii regions are the perfect laboratories to probe such magnetic fields as they are localized in space, and are well-defined sources often with known distances and measurable electron densities. We chose the H ii region Sharpless 2–27 (Sh 2–27) as it is located at intermediate latitudes ( b ~ 23°), meaning that it suffers from little LoS confusion from other sources. In addition, it has a large angular diameter (~10°), enabling us to study the properties of its magnetic field over a wide range of angular scales. Aims. By using a map of the magnetic field strength along the LoS ( B ‖ )for the first time, we investigate the basic statistical properties of the turbulent magnetic field inside Sh 2–27. We study the scaling of the magnetic field fluctuations, compare it to the Kolmogorov scaling, and attempt to find an outer scale of the turbulent magnetic field fluctuations. Methods. We used the polarized radio synchrotron emission data from the S-band Polarization All-Sky Survey (S-PASS) at 2.3 GHz, which allowed us to test the impact of Sh 2–27 on diffuse Galactic synchrotron polarization. We estimated the rotation measure (RM) caused by the H ii region, using the synchrotron polarization angle. We used the H α data from the Southern H α Sky Survey Atlas to estimate the free electron density ( n e ) in the H ii region. Using an ellipsoid model for the shape of Sh 2–27, and with the observed RM and emission measure ( EM ), we estimated the LoS averaged B ‖ for each LoS within the ellipsoid. To characterize the turbulent magnetic field fluctuations, we computed a second-order structure function of B ‖ We compared the structure function to Kolmogorov turbulence, and to simulations of Gaussian random fields processed in the same way as the observations. Results. We present the first continuous map of B ‖ computed using the diffuse polarized radio emission in Sh 2–27. We estimate the median value of n e as 7.3 ± 0.1 cm −3 , and the median value of B ‖ as −4.5 ± 0.1 µG, which is comparable to the magnetic field strength in diffuse ISM. The slope of the structure function of the estimated B ‖ -map is found to be slightly steeper than Kolmogorov, consistent with our Gaussian-random-field B ‖ simulations revealing that an input Kolmogorov slope in the magnetic field results in a somewhat steeper slope in B ‖ .These results suggest that the lower limit to the outer scale of turbulence is 10 pc in the H ii region, which is comparable to the size of the computation domain. Conclusions. The structure functions of B ‖ fluctuations in Sh 2–27 show that the magnetic field fluctuations in this H ii region are consistent with a Kolmogorov-like turbulence. Comparing the observed and simulated B ‖ structure functions results in the estimation of a lower limit to the outer scale of the turbulent magnetic field fluctuations of 10 pc, which is limited by the size of the field of view under study. This may indicate that the turbulence probed here could actually be cascading from the larger scales in the ambient medium, associated with the interstellar turbulence in the general ISM, which is illuminated by the presence of Sh 2–27.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 06-07-2020
Abstract: The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will answer fundamental questions about the origin, evolution, properties, and influence of magnetic fields throughout the Universe. Magnetic fields can illuminate and influence phenomena as erse as star formation, galactic dynamics, fast radio bursts, active galactic nuclei, large-scale structure, and dark matter annihilation. Preparations for the SKA are swiftly continuing worldwide, and the community is making tremendous observational progress in the field of cosmic magnetism using data from a powerful international suite of SKA pathfinder and precursor telescopes. In this contribution, we revisit community plans for magnetism research using the SKA, in light of these recent rapid developments. We focus in particular on the impact that new radio telescope instrumentation is generating, thus advancing our understanding of key SKA magnetism science areas, as well as the new techniques that are required for processing and interpreting the data. We discuss these recent developments in the context of the ultimate scientific goals for the SKA era.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 06-2023
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202245124
Abstract: We present the first deep polarimetric study of Galactic synchrotron emission at low radio frequencies. Our study is based on 21 observations of the European Large Area Infrared Space Observatory Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1) field using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) at frequencies from 114.9 to 177.4 MHz. These data are a part of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields Data Release 1. We used very low-resolution (4.3′) Stokes QU data cubes of this release. We applied rotation measure (RM) synthesis to decompose the distribution of polarised structures in Faraday depth, and cross-correlation RM synthesis to align different observations in Faraday depth. We stacked images of about 150 h of the ELAIS-N1 observations to produce the deepest Faraday cube at low radio frequencies to date, tailored to studies of Galactic synchrotron emission and the intervening magneto-ionic interstellar medium. This Faraday cube covers ~36 deg 2 of the sky and has a noise of 27 µJy PSF −1 RMSF −1 in polarised intensity. This is an improvement in noise by a factor of approximately the square root of the number of stacked data cubes (~√20), as expected, compared to the one in a single data cube based on five-to-eight-hour observations. We detect a faint component of diffuse polarised emission in the stacked cube, which was not detected previously. Additionally, we verify the reliability of the ionospheric Faraday rotation corrections estimated from the satellite-based total electron content measurements to be of ~0.05 гad m −2 . We also demonstrate that diffuse polarised emission itself can be used to account for the relative ionospheric Faraday rotation corrections with respect to a reference observation.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 29-06-2021
Abstract: The Galactic interstellar medium hosts a significant magnetic field, which can be probed through the synchrotron emission produced from its interaction with relativistic electrons. Linearly polarized synchrotron emission is generated throughout the Galaxy and, at longer wavelengths, modified along nearly every path by Faraday rotation in the intervening magneto-ionic medium. Full characterization of the polarized emission requires wideband observations with many frequency channels. We have surveyed polarized radio emission from the Northern sky over the range 1280–1750 MHz, with channel width 236.8 kHz, using the John A. Galt Telescope (diameter 25.6 m) at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, as part of the Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey. The survey covered 72% of the sky, decl. −30° to +87° at all R.A. The intensity scale was absolutely calibrated, based on the flux density and spectral index of Cygnus A. Polarization angle was calibrated using the extended polarized emission of the Fan Region. Data are presented as brightness temperatures with angular resolution 40′. Sensitivity in Stokes Q and U is 45 mK rms in a 1.18 MHz band. We have applied rotation measure synthesis to the data to obtain a Faraday depth cube of resolution 150 rad m −2 and sensitivity 3 mK rms of polarized intensity. Features in Faraday depth up to a width of 110 rad m −2 are represented. The maximum detectable Faraday depth is ±2 × 10 4 rad m −2 . The survey data are available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 26-10-2018
DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS201810.0637.V1
Abstract: The technique of Faraday tomography is a key tool for the study of magnetised plasmas in the new era of broadband radio polarisation observations. In particular, observations at metre-wavelengths provide significantly better Faraday depth accuracies compared to traditional cm-wavelength observations. However, the effect of Faraday depolarisation makes the polarised signal very challenging to detect at metre wavelengths (MHz frequencies). In this work, Faraday tomography is used to characterise the Faraday rotation properties of polarised sources found in data from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Of the 76 extragalactic polarised sources analysed here, we find that all host a radio-loud AGN. The majority of the sources (& sim %) are large FRII radio galaxies with a median projected linear size of 710 kpc and median radio luminosity at 144 MHz of 4 & times 10^26 W/Hz. In several cases, both hotspots are detected in polarisation at an angular resolution of & sim ". One such case allowed a study of intergalactic magnetic fields on scales of 3.4 Mpc. Other detected source types include an FRI radio galaxy and at least 8 blazars. Most sources display simple Faraday spectra, however, we highlight one blazar that displays a complex Faraday spectrum, with two close peaks in the Faraday dispersion function.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-11-2018
Abstract: The technique of Faraday tomography is a key tool for the study of magnetised plasmas in the new era of broadband radio-polarisation observations. In particular, observations at metre wavelengths provide significantly better Faraday depth accuracies compared to traditional centimetre-wavelength observations. However, the effect of Faraday depolarisation makes the polarised signal very challenging to detect at metre wavelengths (MHz frequencies). In this work, Faraday tomography is used to characterise the Faraday rotation properties of polarised sources found in data from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Of the 76 extragalactic polarised sources analysed here, we find that all host a radio-loud AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus). The majority of the sources (∼64%) are large FRII radio galaxies with a median projected linear size of 710 kpc and median radio luminosity at 144 MHz of 4 × 10 26 W Hz − 1 (with ∼13% of all sources having a linear size Mpc). In several cases, both hotspots are detected in polarisation at an angular resolution of ∼20″ . One such case allowed a study of intergalactic magnetic fields on scales of 3.4 Mpc. Other detected source types include an FRI radio galaxy and at least eight blazars. Most sources display simple Faraday spectra, but we highlight one blazar that displays a complex Faraday spectrum, with two close peaks in the Faraday dispersion function.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 30-09-2021
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 02-2023
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202346008
Abstract: Context. The existence of magnetic fields in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is largely unconstrained. Their detection is important as magnetic fields can have a significant impact on the evolution of the CGM, and, in turn, the fields can serve as tracers for dynamical processes in the CGM. Aims. Using the Faraday rotation of polarised background sources, we aim to detect a possible excess of the rotation measure in the surrounding area of nearby galaxies. Methods. We used 2461 residual rotation measures (RRMs) observed with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), where the foreground contribution from the Milky Way is subtracted. The RRMs were then studied around a subset of 183 nearby galaxies that was selected by apparent B -band magnitude. Results. We find that, in general, the RRMs show no significant excess for small impact parameters (i.e., the perpendicular distance to the line of sight). However, if we only consider galaxies at higher inclination angles and sightlines that pass close to the minor axis of the galaxies, we find significant excess at impact parameters of less than 100 kpc. The excess in |RRM| is 3.7 rad m −2 with an uncertainty between ±0.9 rad m −2 and ±1.3 rad m −2 depending on the statistical properties of the background (2.8 σ –4.1 σ ). With electron densities of ∼10 −4 cm −3 , this suggests magnetic field strengths of a few tenths of a microgauss. Conclusions. Our results suggest a slow decrease in the magnetic field strength with distance from the galactic disc, as expected if the CGM is magnetised by galactic winds and outflows.
No related grants have been discovered for Marijke Haverkorn.