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We use Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) to determine the source counts of point (<0.3 arcsec extent) sources and of all sources with some subarcsecond structure, at 162 MHz. We have developed the methodology to derive these counts directly from the IPS observables, while taking into account changes in sensitivity across the survey area. The counts of sources with compact structure follow the behaviour of the dominant source population above ∼3 Jy but below this they show Euclidean behaviour. We compare our counts to those predicted by simulations and find a good agreement for our counts of sources with compact structure, but significant disagreement for point source counts. Using low radio frequency spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from the Galactic and Extragalactic MWA survey, we classify point sources as compact steep spectrum (CSS), flat spectrum, or peaked. If we consider the CSS sources to be the more evolved counterparts of the peaked sources, the two categories combined comprise approximately 80 per cent of the point source population. We calculate densities of potential calibrators brighter than 0.4 Jy at low frequencies and find 0.2 sources per square degrees for point sources, rising to 0.7 sources per square degree if sources with more complex arcsecond structure are included. We extrapolate to estimate 4.6 sources per square degrees at 0.04 Jy. We find that a peaked spectrum is an excellent predictor for compactness at low frequencies, increasing the number of good calibrators by a factor of three compared to the usual flat spectrum criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Murchison Widefield Array observations of the supernova remnant (SNR) 1987A between 72 and 230 MHz, representing the lowest frequency observations of the source to date. This large lever arm in frequency space constrains the properties of the circumstellar medium created by the progenitor of SNR 1987A when it was in its red supergiant phase. As of late 2013, the radio spectrum of SNR 1987A between 72 MHz and 8.64 GHz does not show any deviation from a non-thermal power law with a spectral index of -0.74 ± 0.02. This spectral index is consistent with that derived at higher frequencies, beneath 100 GHz, and with a shock in its adiabatic phase. A spectral turnover due to free-free absorption by the circumstellar medium has to occur below 72 MHz, which places upper limits on the optical depth of ≤0.1 at a reference frequency of 72 MHz, emission measure of≲13 000 cm-6 pc, and an electron density of ≲110 cm-3. This upper limit on the electron density is consistent with the detection of prompt radio emission and models of the X-ray emission from the supernova. The electron density upper limit implies that some hydrodynamic simulations derived a red supergiant mass-loss rate that is too high, or a wind velocity that is too low. The mass-loss rate of ~5 × 10-6 M⊙ yr-1 and wind velocity of 10 km s-1 obtained from optical observations are consistent with our upper limits, predicting a current turnover frequency due to free-free absorption between 5 and 60 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse a 154 MHz image made from a 12 h observation with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) to determine the noise contribution and behaviour of the source counts down to 30 mJy. The MWA image has a bandwidth of 30.72 MHz, a field-of-view within the halfpower contour of the primary beam of 570 deg2, a resolution of 2.3 arcmin and contains 13 458 sources above 5σ. The rms noise in the centre of the image is 4-5 mJy beam-1. The MWA counts are in excellent agreement with counts from other instruments and are the most precise ever derived in the flux density range 30-200 mJy due to the sky area covered. Using the deepest available source count data, we find that the MWA image is affected by sidelobe confusion noise at the ≈3.5 mJy beam-1 level, due to incompletely peeled and out-of-image sources, and classical confusion becomes apparent at ≈1.7 mJy beam-1. This work highlights that (i) further improvements in ionospheric calibration and deconvolution imaging techniques would be required to probe to the classical confusion limit and (ii) the shape of low-frequency source counts, including any flattening towards lower flux densities, must be determined from deeper ≈150 MHz surveys as it cannot be directly inferred from higher frequency data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio emission has been detected in a broad variety of stellar objects from all stages of stellar evolution. However, most of our knowledge originates from targeted observations of small samples, which are strongly biased to sources which are peculiar at other wavelengths. In order to tackle this problem we have conducted a deep 1.4 GHz survey by using the Australian Telescope Compact Array, with a net bandwidth of 1.7 GHz (1.4-3.1 GHz), following the same observing setup as that used for the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey project, this time choosing a region more appropriate for stellar work. In this paper, the Stellar Continuum Originating from Radio Physics In Ourgalaxy (SCORPIO) project is presented as well as results from the pilot experiment. The achieved rms is 30 µJy and the angular resolution ˜10 arcsec. 614 point-like sources have been extracted just from the pilot field. Only 34 of them are classified in SIMBAD or the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. About 80 per cent of the extracted sources are reported in one of the inspected catalogues and 50 per cent of them appears to belong to a reddened stellar/Galactic population. However, the evaluation of extragalactic contaminants is very difficult without further investigations. Interesting results have been obtained for extended radio sources that fall in the SCORPIO field. Many roundishlike structures (indicated as bubbles in the following) have been found, some of which are classified at other wavelengths. However, for all of these sources, our project has provided us with images of unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the third data release from the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey. These data combine the observations at 1.4GHz before and after upgrades to the Australia Telescope Compact Array reaching a sensitivity of 14μJy beam-1 in 3.6 deg² over the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) and of 17μJy beam-1 in 2.7 deg² over the European Large Area ISO Survey South 1 (ELAIS-S1). We used a variety of array configurations to maximize the uv coverage resulting in a resolution of 16 by 7 arcsec in CDFS and of 12 by 8 arcsec in ELAIS-S1. After correcting for peak bias and bandwidth smearing, we find a total of 3034 radio source components above 5σ in CDFS, of which 514 (17 per cent) are considered to be extended. The number of components detected above 5σ in ELAIS-S1 is 2084, of which 392 (19 per cent) are classified as extended. The catalogues include reliable spectral indices (Δα < 0.2) between 1.40 and 1.71 GHz for ~350 of the brightest components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]