Broad band flux-density monitoring of radio sources with the Onsala twin telescopes

TL;DR

This study demonstrates broadband flux-density monitoring of radio sources using the Onsala twin telescopes, revealing variability and flares in selected sources, and establishing calibration and uncertainty benchmarks for future VLBI observations.

Contribution

First broadband flux-density monitoring of radio sources with the Onsala twin telescopes, verifying instrument calibration and detecting source variability over months.

Findings

Detected a multi-frequency flare in 0059+581

Observed long-term variability in OJ287 and 1156+295

Established flux density uncertainty at approximately 5%

Abstract

Context and aims: The Onsala twin telescopes (OTT) are two 13 m telescopes located at the Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden. With dual linear polarized broad-band (3-14 GHz) receivers, they are part of the next generation Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Global Observing System (VGOS) for geodesy and astrometry. In addition to purely geodetic data products, VGOS will regularly produce full-polarisation images of hundreds of radio sources. These rich monitoring data will be valuable for both astronomy and geodesy. In this pilot study we aim to monitor 10 bright radio sources to search for flares or similar activity, and to verify the instrument calibration on long (months) and short (hours) time scales. Method: We observed and analysed 91 short (<30 min) sessions spanning 7 months. We monitored seven potentially variable radio sources (0059+581, 0552+398, 1144+402, 1156+295, 1617+229, 3C418, OJ287) and three reference calibrators (3C147, 3C286, 3C295). We used the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package to fringe-fit, bandpass-correct and scale the data to obtain flux densities in the four standard VGOS bands: 3.0-3.5 GHz (band 1), 5.2-5.7 GHz (band 2), 6.3-6.8 GHz (band 3), and 10.2-10.7 GHz (band 4). Results: We obtain simultaneous multi-frequency light curves for ten radio sources. A bright multi-frequency flare is observed in the radio source 0059+581. OJ287 and 1156+295 show significant long-term variability. Conclusions: After correcting for instrumental biases, we determine the empirical flux density uncertainty as $\sim$5%. Future refined analysis methods will allow regular monitoring of more and fainter sources.