SPARCS-North Wide-field VLBI Survey: Exploring the resolved MicroJy extra-galactic radio source population with EVN+e-MERLIN

Abstract

The SKA PAthfinder Radio Continuum Surveys (SPARCS) are providing deep-field imaging of the faint (sub-mJy) extra-galactic radio source populations through a series of reference surveys. One of the key science goals for SPARCS is to characterize the relative contribution of radio emission associated with AGN from star-formation (SF) in these faint radio source populations, using a combination of high sensitivity and high angular resolution imaging over a range of spatial scales (arcsec to mas). To isolate AGN contribution from SF, we hypothesise that there exists a brightness temperature cut-off point separating pure AGN from SF. We present a multi-resolution (10-100 mas) view of the transition between compact AGN and diffuse SF through a deep wide-field EVN+e-MERLIN, multiple phase centre survey of the centre of the Northern SPARCS (SLOAN) reference field at 1.6 GHz. This is the first (and only) VLBI (+e-MERLIN) milliarcsecond angular resolution observation of this field, and of the wider SPARCS reference field programme. Using these high spatial resolution (9 pc - 0.3 kpc at z ~ 1.25) data, 11 milliarcsecond-scale sources are detected from a targeted sample of 52 known radio sources from previous observations with the e-MERLIN, giving a VLBI detection fraction of ~ 21%. At spatial scales of ~ 9 pc, these sources show little to no jet structure whilst at ~ 0.3 kpc one-sided and two-sided radio jets begin to emerge on the same sources, indicating a possible transition from pure AGN emissions to AGN and star-formation systems.

arXiv comment14 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (46)

• Radio galaxies and feedback from AGN jets
• The Quest for Dual and Binary Supermassive Black Holes: A Multi-Messenger View
• Revisiting the Fanaroff-Riley dichotomy and radio-galaxy morphology with the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
• The faint radio sky: radio astronomy becomes mainstream
• Observability of Dual Active Galactic Nuclei in Merging Galaxies
• Radio-loud AGN in the first LoTSS data release: The lifetimes and environmental impact of jet-driven sources
• The SFXC software correlator for Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Algorithms and Implementation
• A close-pair binary in a distant triple supermassive black-hole system
• BLOBCAT: Software to Catalogue Flood-Filled Blobs in Radio Images of Total Intensity and Linear Polarization
• A Radio Census of Binary Supermassive Black Holes
• The LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1 -- III. Host-galaxy identifications and value added catalogues
• Double-peaked Narrow-Line Signatures of Dual Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxy Merger Simulations
• Radio Continuum Surveys with Square Kilometre Array Pathfinders
• Quasars That Have Transitioned from Radio-quiet to Radio-loud on Decadal Timescales Revealed by VLASS and FIRST
• The MEGaN project II. Gravitational waves from intermediate mass- and binary black holes around a supermassive black hole
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Refining Strong Line Diagnostic Classifications Using Spatially Resolved Gas Dynamics
• On the origin of radio core emission in radio-quiet quasars
• Extragalactic Radio Continuum Surveys and the Transformation of Radio Astronomy
• The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
• An ALMA survey of submillimetre galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: radio properties and the far-infrared/radio correlation
• mJIVE-20: a survey for compact mJy radio objects with the Very Long Baseline Array
• The radio loudness of SDSS quasars from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: ubiquitous jet activity and constraints on star formation
• The faint radio sky: VLBA observations of the COSMOS field
• Mosaiced wide-field VLBI observations of the Lockman Hole/XMM
• SHARP - V. Modelling gravitationally-lensed radio arcs imaged with global VLBI observations
• MIGHTEE: the nature of the radio-loud AGN population
• A Multi-wavelength Analysis of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): the Nature of the Ultra-faint Radio Population
• Post-correlation filtering techniques for off-axis source and RFI removal
• Radio spectral properties of star-forming galaxies in the MIGHTEE-COSMOS field and their impact on the far-infrared-radio correlation
• An Ultra-deep Multi-band VLA Survey of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): Source Catalog and Number Counts
• Deep, wide-field, global VLBI observations of the Hubble Deep Field North and Flanking Fields
• Identifying active galactic nuclei via brightness temperature with sub-arcsecond International LOFAR Telescope observations
• Nowhere to Hide: Radio-faint AGN in the GOODS-N field. I. Initial catalogue and radio properties
• The e-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution Survey (e-MERGE): Overview and Survey Description
• Deep 3 GHz Observations of the Lockman Hole North with the Very Large Array - 1. Source extraction and uncertainty analysis
• Probing supermassive black hole mergers and stalling with pulsar timing arrays
• A novel search for gravitationally lensed radio sources in wide-field VLBI imaging from the mJIVE-20 survey
• CHILES VERDES: Radio variability at an unprecedented depth and cadence in the COSMOS field
• High Resolution Radio Astronomy Using Very Long Baseline Interferometry
• Nowhere to Hide: Radio-faint AGN in the GOODS-N field. II. Multi-wavelength AGN selection techniques and host galaxy properties
• Investigating the Unification of LOFAR-detected powerful AGN in the Boötes Field
• VLBA+GBT observations of the COSMOS field and radio source counts at 1.4 GHz
• Deep VLBI Observations Challenge Previous Evidence of a Binary Supermassive Black Hole Residing in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 7674
• HerMES: Disentangling active galactic nuclei and star formation in the radio source population
• Are the hosts of VLBI selected radio-AGN different to those of radio-loud AGN?
• Correction of Radio Interferometric Imaging for Antenna Patterns

Cited by in corpus (1)

• The Quasar Feedback Survey: zooming into the origin of radio emission with e-MERLIN