Single-baseline interferometer for mJy observations

The Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC) of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VeUAS) has developed an 800 m single-baseline interferometer consisting of 32 m (IR) and 16 m (IB) radio telescopes with 15 arcseconds of angular resolution. Irbene radio telescopes are operating at C/M/X-band (4.5-8.8 GHz). Raw telescope data are correlated with the Software FX Correlator (SFXC) [1] and output visibilities are calibrated with a ParselTongue^∗ pipeline. Data processing techniques provide a velocity resolution of 0.088 kms^-1 and spectral resolution of 0.002 MHz and enabling observations to approach the theoretical sensitivity limit of the interferometer, at about 6 mJy for a 120 s integration. We propose to use the Irbene interferometer for discoveries in a new age of transient astrophysics. In this paper, we will show correlation and calibration schema and initial monitoring results.