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C. C. Cheung (Brandeis), J. S. Ulvestad (NRAO)
We present our second epoch VSOP (VLBI Space Observatory Programme) observation of the EGRET blazar 1633+382 at 5 GHz. The VSOP satellite (HALCA) was used with NRAO's VLBA plus phased VLA on 4/5 August 1998 to produce projected baselines well over a factor of three over that achievable from the ground only. This image is combined with our first epoch VSOP observation on 29/30 July 1997 and an 8 GHz VLBA observation in 1995 in our proper motion study of this blazar.
We also present image simulations created from the second epoch VSOP observation. We assess the imaging capabilities of apogee heights plausible for future Space VLBI missions such as VSOP-2 and ARISE (Advanced Radio Interferometry between Space and Earth) by removing telescope data to simulate different sizes of the UV hole in the VLBI imaging plane. Our preliminary results show that image fidelity is severely compromised when the major axis of an elliptical hole in the UV plane is as large as 75% of the longest projected baseline. This technique can be utilized on other observations with HALCA to aid in the determination of a tolerable orbit for upcoming Space VLBI missions.
We thank the 1999 NSF REU/NRAO Summer Student program and its coordinators. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: ccc@quasar.astro.brandeis.edu