Verbundprojekt 05A2020 - D-MeerKAT-II: Ein deutscher Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung der Radioastronomie im Zentimeterwellenlängenbereich

Abstract

In Work Package 4 of the D-MeerKAT-II project, we carried out the development of a new interfero metric imaging algorithm for on-the-fly (OTF) scanning observations with the MeerKAT observatory. Once this algorithm was demonstrated on test scan data, we build up a series of radio astronomy pipelines for scan data calibration, flagging, OTF correction, imaging and self-calibration and then later added cataloging and mosaicking. We carried out extensive validation of these pipelines to determine the quality of the astrometry and photometry of the radio continuum sources imaged with the pipeline. These tests, coming during a no-cost extension of the D-MeerKAT-II project, indicated measurable noise in the astrometry and photometry that triggered further improvements and a different mode of radio imaging in the follow-on project D-MeerKAT-III. The pipelines developed in D-MeerKAT-II have been shared with collaborators and are the basis for the data processing of the ongoing MeerKLASS survey that is composed of scan observations.