Synchrotron and free-free mapping with simulated REACH observations between 50-170 MHz

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ID: 329646
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Global 21cm experiments aim to detect the hydrogen 21cm signal by separating it from foreground emission that can be orders of magnitude brighter than the signal. For the Radio Experiment for the Analysis of Cosmic Hydrogen (REACH), we forward-model the sky by jointly fitting signal and foreground spectral parameters to an existing sky map. The fitted parameters yield spectrally constrained, absolutely calibrated maps of the radio sky across the full 50-170 MHz observing band, among the lowest continuous frequencies yet mapped. We assess REACH’s ability to fit the 21cm signal and recover accurate foreground maps, using physically motivated foreground models of increasing complexity (starting from a pure synchrotron power-law model, then introducing variable amplitudes, curvature, and a free-free component). We evaluate these models against simulated REACH observations of correspondingly complex foregrounds, based on the Global Sky Model and the Python Sky Model. To recover the 21cm signal, more complex datasets require correspondingly complex models, but this introduces degeneracies that limit accurate recovery of foreground parameters. Fitting a foreground with independent synchrotron and free-free emission enables component-separated sky mapping, which has applications beyond radio cosmology; synchrotron is well-recovered across the sky, but free-free recovery is limited. REACH is therefore capable of probing Galactic physics at uniquely low frequencies, alongside its primary goal of detecting the 21cm signal.
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openalex_W7167025382 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Daniel Robins, Dominic Anstey, Harry T. J. Bevins, Eloy de Lera Acedo, Melis O Irfan
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Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1804
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1804
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