1 MX MX : Make and Clean maps from UV data This task combines UV_MAP and CLEAN in a single step. The CLEAN algorithm is similar to the CLARK method, but with major cycles operating directly on the ungridded UV table rather than in the image plane. Accordingly, there is aliasing only of the residuals, not of the clean components. MX can process all planes of a data cube at the same time, but a separate list of component will be produced for each plane. The cleaning cannot be restarted. The mapping process is identical to UV_MAP. It makes a map from UV data by gridding the UV data using a convolving function, and then Fast Fourier Transforming the individual channels. However, MX always produces a single beam for all channels, thus neglecting frequency change between channels. MX allows to shift the map center and rotate the image, by shifting the phase tracking center and rotating the UV coordinates of the input UV table. MX produces several output maps, of name derived from MAP_NAME$, and a residual output UV table. 2 UV_TABLE$ TASK\FILE "UV table" UV_TABLE$ The UV table name. Default extension is .UVT. This UV table will be shifted, rotated and sorted if necessary. 2 MAP_NAME$ TASK\CHARACTER "Map name" MAP_NAME$ The output map(s) name, without extension. All output image names are derived from this name as follow MAP_NAME.LMV-MX The MX-cleaned map MAP_NAME.CCT The clean component table MAP_NAME.LMV-RES The MX residual map MAP_NAME.BEAM The dirty beam MAP_NAME.UVT-MX The MX residual UV data set 2 UV_TAPER$ TASK\REAL "UV taper(1/e level, meters)" UV_TAPER$[2] The UV taper (to be applied in both directions). 2 WEIGHT_MODE$ TASK\CHARACTER "Weight mode (NA or UN)" WEIGHT_MODE$ NAtural (optimum in terms of sensitivity) or UNiform (usually lower sidelobes) weighting. Caution: UNiform weighting is really disastrous for the type of UV coverage obtained at Plateau de Bure. 2 MAP_SIZE$ TASK\INTEGER "Map size(2)" MAP_SIZE$[2] Number of pixels in X and Y. Need not be a power of two, but this would be much better for any further image processing. 2 MAP_CELL$ TASK\REAL "Map cell(arc sec)" MAP_CELL$[2] The map cell size. It is recommended to use identical values in X and Y. 2 UV_CELL$ TASK\REAL "UV cell(m), for unif. weighting" UV_CELL$[2] The UV cell size for uniform weighting. Should be of the order of half the dish diameter, or smaller. 2 ONEBEAM$ TASK\LOGICAL "Make one beam (YES), or one per channel (NO)" ONEBEAM$ For spectral line data, specify whether a common beam should be generated for all channels, or one beam per channel. 2 WCOL$ TASK\INTEGER "Weight channel" WCOL$ The channel from which the weight should be taken. WCOL$ set to 0 implies no weighting, and is normally disastrous. 2 MCOL$ TASK\INTEGER "First and Last channel to map" MCOL$[2] The first and last channel to be mapped. 2 CONVOLUTION$ TASK\INTEGER "Convolution function [0-5]" CONVOLUTION$ Select the desired convolution function for gridding in the UV plane Choices are 0 Default (currently 5) 1 Boxcar 2 Gaussian 3 Sin(x)/x 4 Gaussian * Sin(x)/x 5 Spheroidal 2 UV_SHIFT$ TASK\LOGICAL "Change map center or map orientation" UV_SHIFT$ Indicate whether map center (i.e. phase tracking center) or orientation should be modified or not. 2 RA_CENTER$ TASK\CHARACTER "Map Center RA" RA_CENTER$ New Right Ascension of map center. 2 DEC_CENTER$ TASK\CHARACTER "Map Center DEC" DEC_CENTER$ New Declination of map center. 2 ANGLE$ TASK\CHARACTER "Map Position Angle (deg)" ANGLE$ Position Angle of the direction which will become the apparent North in the map. 2 GAIN$ TASK\REAL "Loop gain" GAIN$ This is the gain of the subtraction loop. It should typically be chosen in the range 0.05 and 0.3. Higher values give faster convergence, while lower values give a better restitution of the extended structure. 2 NITER$ TASK\INTEGER "Maximum number of clean components" NITER$ This is the maximum number of components the program will accept to subtract. Once it has been reached, the program starts the restoration phase. 2 FRES$ TASK\REAL "Maximum value of residual (Fraction of peak)" FRES$ This is the minimal fraction of the peak flux in the dirty map that the program will consider as significant. Alternatively, an absolute threshold can be specified using ARES$. Once this level has been reached the program stops subtracting, and starts the restoration phase. This parameter is normalised to 1 (neither in % nor in db). It should usually be of the order of magnitude of the inverse of the expected dynamic range. 2 ARES$ TASK\REAL "Maximum value of residual (Absolute)" ARES$ This is the minimal flux in the dirty map that the program will consider as significant. Alternatively, the threshold can be specified as a fraction of the peak flux using FRES$. Once this level has been reached the program stops subtracting, and starts the restoration phase. The unit for this parameter is the map unit. The parameter should usually be of the order of magnitude of the expected noise in the clean map. 2 BLC$ TASK\INTEGER "Bottom left corner of cleaning box" BLC$[4] These are the (pixel) coordinates of the Bottom Left Corner of the cleaning box. Only the first two coordinates are actually used. The actual cleaning window will be the intersection of the specified window with the inner quarter of the map. 2 TRC$ TASK\INTEGER "Top right corner of cleaning box" TRC$[4] These are the (pixel) coordinates of the Top Right Corner of the cleaning box. Only the first two coordinates are actually used. The actual cleaning window will be the intersection of the specified window with the inner quarter of the map. 2 POSITIVE$ TASK\INTEGER "Minimum number of positive components" POSITIVE$ The minimum number of positive components before negative ones are selected. 2 KEEP$ TASK\LOGICAL "Keep cleaning after convergence" KEEP$ This is a logical flag to keep cleaning after an approximate convergence has been reached. It should usually be set to .TRUE., except may be for the SIMPLE method. 2 MAJOR$ TASK\REAL "Clean beam major axis" MAJOR$ This is the major axis (FWHP) in user coordinates of the gaussian restoring beam. If 0, the program will fit a gaussian to the dirty beam. 2 MINOR$ TASK\REAL "Clean beam minor axis" MINOR$ This is the minor axis (FWHP) in user coordinates of the gaussian restoring beam. 2 PA$ TASK\REAL "Position angle of clean beam" PA$ This is the position angle (from North towards East, i.e. anticlockwise) of the major axis of the gaussian restoring beam (in degrees). 2 BEAM_PATCH$ TASK\INTEGER "Size of cleaning beam in pixels" BEAMPATCH$[2] The dirty beam patch to be used for the minor cycles in CLARK and MRC method. It should be large enough to avoid doing too many major cycles, but has practically no influence on the result. This size should be specified in pixel units. Reasonable values are between N/8 and N/4, where N is the number of map pixels in the same dimension. If set to N, the CLARK algorithm becomes identical to the SIMPLE algorithm. 1 END