VAST: An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients

Tara Murphy; Shami Chatterjee; David L. Kaplan; Jay Banyer; Martin E. Bell; Hayley E. Bignall; Geoffrey C. Bower; Robert A. Cameron; David M. Coward; James M. Cordes; Steve Croft; James R. Curran; S. G. Djorgovski; Sean A. Farrell; Dale A. Frail; B. M. Gaensler; Duncan K. Galloway; Bruce Gendre; Anne J. Green; Paul J. Hancock; Simon Johnston; Atish Kamble; Casey J. Law; T. Joseph W. Lazio; Kitty K. Lo; Jean Pierre MacQuart; Nanda Rea; Umaa Rebbapragada; Cormac Reynolds; Stuart D. Ryder; Brian Schmidt; Roberto Soria; Ingrid H. Stairs; Steven J. Tingay; Ulf Torkelsson; Kiri Wagstaff; Mark Walker; Randall B. Wayth; Peter K.G. Williams

doi:10.1017/pasa.2012.006

VAST: An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients

Tara Murphy^*, Shami Chatterjee, David L. Kaplan, Jay Banyer, Martin E. Bell, Hayley E. Bignall, Geoffrey C. Bower, Robert A. Cameron, David M. Coward, James M. Cordes, Steve Croft, James R. Curran, S. G. Djorgovski, Sean A. Farrell, Dale A. Frail, B. M. Gaensler, Duncan K. Galloway, Bruce Gendre, Anne J. Green, Paul J. HancockSimon Johnston, Atish Kamble, Casey J. Law, T. Joseph W. Lazio, Kitty K. Lo, Jean Pierre MacQuart, Nanda Rea, Umaa Rebbapragada, Cormac Reynolds, Stuart D. Ryder, Brian Schmidt, Roberto Soria, Ingrid H. Stairs, Steven J. Tingay, Ulf Torkelsson, Kiri Wagstaff, Mark Walker, Randall B. Wayth, Peter K.G. Williams

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

104 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar scintillation, radio supernovae, and orphan afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. In addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of 5 s and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.

Original language	English
Article number	e006
Journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Volume	30
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2012.006
Publication status	Published - Jan 2013

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Murphy, T., Chatterjee, S., Kaplan, D. L., Banyer, J., Bell, M. E., Bignall, H. E., Bower, G. C., Cameron, R. A., Coward, D. M., Cordes, J. M., Croft, S., Curran, J. R., Djorgovski, S. G., Farrell, S. A., Frail, D. A., Gaensler, B. M., Galloway, D. K., Gendre, B., Green, A. J., ... Williams, P. K. G. (2013). VAST: An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 30(1), Article e006. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2012.006

@article{c16acbc2012e4af4bb26ebe287550ac6,

title = "VAST: An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients",

abstract = "The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar scintillation, radio supernovae, and orphan afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. In addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of 5 s and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.",

keywords = "ISM: general, galaxies: general, radio continuum: general, stars: general, surveys, telescopes",

author = "Tara Murphy and Shami Chatterjee and Kaplan, {David L.} and Jay Banyer and Bell, {Martin E.} and Bignall, {Hayley E.} and Bower, {Geoffrey C.} and Cameron, {Robert A.} and Coward, {David M.} and Cordes, {James M.} and Steve Croft and Curran, {James R.} and Djorgovski, {S. G.} and Farrell, {Sean A.} and Frail, {Dale A.} and Gaensler, {B. M.} and Galloway, {Duncan K.} and Bruce Gendre and Green, {Anne J.} and Hancock, {Paul J.} and Simon Johnston and Atish Kamble and Law, {Casey J.} and Lazio, {T. Joseph W.} and Lo, {Kitty K.} and MacQuart, {Jean Pierre} and Nanda Rea and Umaa Rebbapragada and Cormac Reynolds and Ryder, {Stuart D.} and Brian Schmidt and Roberto Soria and Stairs, {Ingrid H.} and Tingay, {Steven J.} and Ulf Torkelsson and Kiri Wagstaff and Mark Walker and Wayth, {Randall B.} and Williams, {Peter K.G.}",

year = "2013",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1017/pasa.2012.006",

language = "English",

volume = "30",

journal = "Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia",

issn = "1323-3580",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "1",

}

Murphy, T, Chatterjee, S, Kaplan, DL, Banyer, J, Bell, ME, Bignall, HE, Bower, GC, Cameron, RA, Coward, DM, Cordes, JM, Croft, S, Curran, JR, Djorgovski, SG, Farrell, SA, Frail, DA, Gaensler, BM, Galloway, DK, Gendre, B, Green, AJ, Hancock, PJ, Johnston, S, Kamble, A, Law, CJ, Lazio, TJW, Lo, KK, MacQuart, JP, Rea, N, Rebbapragada, U, Reynolds, C, Ryder, SD, Schmidt, B, Soria, R, Stairs, IH, Tingay, SJ, Torkelsson, U, Wagstaff, K, Walker, M, Wayth, RB & Williams, PKG 2013, 'VAST: An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients', Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, vol. 30, no. 1, e006. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2012.006

TY - JOUR

T1 - VAST

T2 - An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients

AU - Murphy, Tara

AU - Chatterjee, Shami

AU - Kaplan, David L.

AU - Banyer, Jay

AU - Bell, Martin E.

AU - Bignall, Hayley E.

AU - Bower, Geoffrey C.

AU - Cameron, Robert A.

AU - Coward, David M.

AU - Cordes, James M.

AU - Croft, Steve

AU - Curran, James R.

AU - Djorgovski, S. G.

AU - Farrell, Sean A.

AU - Frail, Dale A.

AU - Gaensler, B. M.

AU - Galloway, Duncan K.

AU - Gendre, Bruce

AU - Green, Anne J.

AU - Hancock, Paul J.

AU - Johnston, Simon

AU - Kamble, Atish

AU - Law, Casey J.

AU - Lazio, T. Joseph W.

AU - Lo, Kitty K.

AU - MacQuart, Jean Pierre

AU - Rea, Nanda

AU - Rebbapragada, Umaa

AU - Reynolds, Cormac

AU - Ryder, Stuart D.

AU - Schmidt, Brian

AU - Soria, Roberto

AU - Stairs, Ingrid H.

AU - Tingay, Steven J.

AU - Torkelsson, Ulf

AU - Wagstaff, Kiri

AU - Walker, Mark

AU - Wayth, Randall B.

AU - Williams, Peter K.G.

PY - 2013/1

Y1 - 2013/1

N2 - The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar scintillation, radio supernovae, and orphan afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. In addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of 5 s and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.

AB - The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar scintillation, radio supernovae, and orphan afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. In addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of 5 s and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.

KW - ISM: general

KW - galaxies: general

KW - radio continuum: general

KW - stars: general

KW - surveys

KW - telescopes

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874861040&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/pasa.2012.006

DO - 10.1017/pasa.2012.006

M3 - Review article

SN - 1323-3580

VL - 30

JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

IS - 1

M1 - e006

ER -

VAST: An ASKAP survey for variables and slow transients

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