Foregrounds for redshifted 21 cm studies of reionization: GMRT 153 MHz observations

TL;DR

This study uses GMRT 153 MHz observations to analyze foreground properties relevant for 21 cm reionization studies, highlighting calibration challenges and the importance of accurate foreground modeling.

Contribution

It provides the first statistical characterization of foreground radiation at relevant scales using GMRT data with conventional calibration methods.

Findings

Visibility correlation function matches models except at large scales.

Frequency correlation declines rapidly, indicating calibration sensitivity.

Data reduction limitations may affect the observed frequency correlation.

Abstract

Foreground subtraction is the biggest challenge for future redshifted 21 cm observations to probe reionization. We use a short GMRT observation at 153 MHz to characterize the statistical properties of the background radiation across ~ one degree to sub-arcminutes angular scales, and across a frequency band of 5 MHz with 62.5 kHz resolution. The statistic we use is the visibility correlation function, or equivalently the angular power spectrum C_l. We present the results obtained from using relatively unsophisticated, conventional data calibration procedures. We find that even fairly simple minded calibration allows one to estimate the visibility correlation function at a given frequency V_2(U,0). From our observations we find that V_2(U,0) is consistent with foreground model predictions at all angular scales except the largest ones probed by our observations where the the model predictions are somewhat in excess. On the other hand the visibility correlation between different frequencies kappa(U, Delta nu), seems to be much more sensitive to calibration errors. We find a rapid decline in kappa(U, Delta nu), in contrast with the prediction of less than 1 % variation across 2.5 MHz. In this case however, it seems likely that a substantial part of the discrepancy may be due to limitations of data reduction procedures.