Abstract

Poster - Splinter FutureRadio

Monday, 09 September 2024, 17:50   (S26)

Improved Coverage for Southern-Hemisphere VLBI through the SKAMPI telescope

J. Wongphechauxsorn[1], E. Barr[2], N. Esser[2], M. Kadler[1], H. R. Klöckner[2], M. Kramer[2], R. Ojha[3], J. F. H. Quick[4], C. Reynolds[5], F. Rösch[1][2], E. Ros[2], G. Wieching[2], T. Winchen[2], On behalf of D-MeerKAT consortium and the TANAMI team.
[1] JMU Würzburg, [2] MPI für Radioastronomie, [3] CSIRO Space and Astronomy, [4] Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory ,[5] NASA HQ

The SKA-MPIfR telescope (SKAMPI) is a 15 m prototype dish of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA)-MID located in the Karoo Desert, South Africa. The telescope is funded and operated by the MPIfR, including the implementation of a novel VLBI backend. As one of the potentially longest baselines for both southern and northern VLBI observations, the SKAMPI telescope will play a crucial role in the future of radio astronomy, providing excellent spatial resolution and schedule flexibility. Furthermore, the addition of the SKAMPI telescope to the VLBI array is an important step towards accessing faint source populations in the era of SKA VLBI. I will discuss recent developments regarding the VLBI observing mode of the SKAMPI telescope, including fringe detections and successful implementation in S-band observations with the Australian Long Baseline Array in an experiment within the scope of the TANAMI program. This program is a multi-wavelength observing program aimed at monitoring relativistic jets from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) in the southern sky.