VLBI observations of the radio quasar J2228+0110 at<i>z</i>= 5.95 and other field sources in multiple-phase-centre mode

Abstract

A patch of sky in the SDSS Stripe 82 was observed at 1.6 GHz with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) using the European VLBI Network (EVN). The data were correlated at the EVN software correlator at JIVE (SFXC). There are fifteen known mJy/sub-mJy radio sources in the target field defined by the primary beam size of a typical 30-m class EVN radio telescope. The source of particular interest is a recently identified high-redshift radio quasar: J222843.54+011032.2 (J2228+0110) at redshift z = 5.95. Our aim was to investigate the milli-arcsecond (mas) scale properties of all the VLBI-detectable sources within this primary beam area with a diameter of 20′. The source J2228+0110 was detected with VLBI with a brightness temperature Tb > 108 K, supporting the active galactic nucleus (AGN) origin of its radio emission, which is conclusive evidence that the source is a radio quasar. In addition, two other target sources were also detected, one of them with no redshift information. Their brightness temperature values (Tb > 107 K) measured with VLBI suggest a non-thermal synchrotron radiation origin for their radio emission. The detection rate of 20% is broadly consistent with other wide-field VLBI experiments carried out recently. We also derived the accurate equatorial coordinates of the three detected sources using the phase-referencing technique. This experiment is an early attempt of a wide-field science project with SFXC, paving the way for the EVN to conduct a large-scale VLBI survey in the multiple-phase-centre mode.