Wide-field VLBA Observations of the Chandra Deep Field South

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a novel wide-field VLBA survey technique that efficiently observes multiple radio sources in the Chandra Deep Field South, revealing detailed AGN activity and challenging previous assumptions about X-ray indicators.

Contribution

Developed an extension to the DiFX correlator enabling high-resolution, wide-field VLBA observations of multiple sources simultaneously, significantly reducing observation time.

Findings

Detected 20 out of 96 radio sources with VLBA.

Most VLBA sources have flux densities consistent with arcsec-scale observations.

X-ray detections are not reliable indicators of VLBI detections.

Abstract

Wide-field surveys are a commonly-used method for studying thousands of objects simultaneously, to investigate, e.g., the joint evolution of star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei. VLBI observations can yield valuable input to such studies because they are able to identify AGN. However, VLBI observations of large swaths of the sky are impractical using standard methods, because the fields of view of VLBI observations are of the order of 10" or less. We have embarked on a project to carry out Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of all 96 known radio sources in one of the best-studied areas in the sky, the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS). The challenge was to develop methods which could significantly reduce the amount of observing (and post-processing) time. We have developed an extension to the DiFX software correlator which allows one to correlate hundreds of positions within the primary beams. This extension enabled us to target many sources, at full resolution and high sensitivity, using only a small amount of observing time. The combination of wide fields-of-view and high sensitivity across the field in this survey is unprecedented. We have observed with the VLBA a single pointing containing the Chandra Deep Field South, in which 96 radio sources were known from previous observations with the ATCA. From our input sample, 20 were detected with the VLBA. The majority of objects have flux densities in agreement with arcsec-scale observations, implying that their radio emission comes from very small regions. One VLBI-detected object had earlier been classified as a star-forming galaxy. Comparing the VLBI detections to sources found in sensitive, co-located X-ray observations we find that X-ray detections are not a good indicator for VLBI detections. Wide-field VLBI survey science is now coming of age.