140 Foot / Vera Rubin Observatory Follow-up Feasibility Study

Introduction

The idea of refitting the 140-Foot as a follow-up instrument for the Vera Rubin Observatory has been floated in various meetings at the GBO, and it has been proposed to carry out a feasibility study to determine whether there is a scientific need for this and what resources / work would need to be done to the 140-Foot in order for it to be used for this purpose. On this page, I've drafted a plan for the steps we'll need to take to complete such a study, and have also created a space to save links to relevant resources we may use in the process.

Draft Plan

• Science case: determine what potential Vera Rubin science targets would benefit from radio follow-up, and whether there is interest within the scientific community in having a radio telescope follow-up instrument.
  • Perform literature review
  • Communicate with scientific community -- talk with GBO staff who are familiar with Vera Rubin science goals, and either ask them to provide Vera Rubin contacts, or identify contacts based on science areas determined to be most relevant to the 140-foot.
• Technical requirements: based on information gathered from surveying the literature and the scientific community, determine the technical specifications needed for the instrument:
  • Frequency range
  • Data product specs (spectral resolution, time resolution, etc.)
  • Whether or not a longer baseline is needed (i.e. should we consider pulling in the 20m or one of the GBI elements, or the 45 foot, for example?).
  • Etc.
• System design -- based on technical specifications, draft a design for the new system's elements:
  • Receiver
  • IF system
  • Backend
  • Control system (triggered follow-up implementation, etc.)
  • Data analysis pipeline
  • Etc.
• Draft budget / project plan
  • Based on system design, draft a budget and possible timeline for project.
• Funding options (may or may not be part of the study, but would need to be considered before proceeding with project): * Gather information about grants / organizations that could be approached for funding.

Science Case

• LIGO follow-up
• CHIME FRB Follow-up

Useful resources

• Paper on radio follow-up for LIGO events: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aap9855 (from Brenne)

-- EllieWhite - 2022-08-23