RESOLVE: A new algorithm for aperture synthesis imaging of extended emission in radio astronomy

We present resolve, a new algorithm for radio aperture synthesis imaging of extended and diffuse emission in total intensity. The algorithm is derived using Bayesian statistical inference techniques, estimating the surface brightness in the sky assuming a priori log-normal statistics. resolve estima...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) 2016-02, Vol.586, p.A76
Main Authors: Junklewitz, H., Bell, M. R., Selig, M., Enßlin, T. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Apertures
Diffusion
Estimates
Imaging
methods: data analysis
methods: statistical
Radio
radio continuum: general
Surface brightness
Synthesis
techniques: image processing
techniques: interferometric
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Summary:We present resolve, a new algorithm for radio aperture synthesis imaging of extended and diffuse emission in total intensity. The algorithm is derived using Bayesian statistical inference techniques, estimating the surface brightness in the sky assuming a priori log-normal statistics. resolve estimates the measured sky brightness in total intensity, and the spatial correlation structure in the sky, which is used to guide the algorithm to an optimal reconstruction of extended and diffuse sources. During this process, the algorithm succeeds in deconvolving the effects of the radio interferometric point spread function. Additionally, resolve provides a map with an uncertainty estimate of the reconstructed surface brightness. Furthermore, with resolve we introduce a new, optimal visibility weighting scheme that can be viewed as an extension to robust weighting. In tests using simulated observations, the algorithm shows improved performance against two standard imaging approaches for extended sources, Multiscale-CLEAN and the Maximum Entropy Method.
ISSN:0004-6361
1432-0746
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/201323094