Event Details

eMERLIN Legacy Surveys - a new window on the radio Universe

Abstract: eMERLIN - the UK's national facility for high angular resolution radio astronomy - is a powerful radio telescope whose unique configuration and data processing capabilities make it an unprecedentedly powerful instrument for conducting sub-arcsecond radio surveys over ~degree areas at ~GHz frequencies, offering new insight into the physical process responsible for producing thermal and synchrotron emission in galaxies at low and high redshift. In recent years, we have addressed important issues related to the calibration and analysis of the radio data, allowing us to create sensitive radio maps over wide fields at close to the thermal noise limit. These maps have enabled studies of a wide range of scientific topics including (i) Galactic variable sources (XRBs/GRBs); (ii) imaging of protoplanetary discs at ~AU scales and ~cm wavelengths; (iii) evolution of SNR and HII regions in nearby starburst galaxies; and (iv) the sizes and morphologies of star-forming galaxies and AGN at z=1-3. In this talk I will highlight the unique capabilities of eMERLIN and outline solutions to some of the main technical challenges. I will also present early science results from several large legacy programmes addressing the breadth of eMERLIN science, focusing in particular on eMERGE - the eMERLIN Galaxy Evolution survey - a deep, sub-arcsecond radio continuum survey of the GOODS-N field.