LOFAR MSSS: Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole

A. J. Stewart; R. P. Fender; J. W. Broderick; T. E. Hassall; T. Muñoz-Darias; A. Rowlinson; J. D. Swinbank; T. D. Staley; G. J. Molenaar; B. Scheers; T. L. Grobler; M. Pietka; G. Heald; J. P. McKean; M. E. Bell; A. Bonafede; R. P. Breton; D. Carbone; Y. Cendes; A. O. Clarke; S. Corbel; F. De Gasperin; J. Eislöffel; H. Falcke; C. Ferrari; J. M. Grießmeier; M. J. Hardcastle; V. Heesen; J. W.T. Hessels; A. Horneffer; M. Iacobelli; P. Jonker; A. Karastergiou; G. Kokotanekov; V. I. Kondratiev; M. Kuniyoshi; C. J. Law; J. van Leeuwen; S. Markoff; J. C.A. Miller-Jones; D. Mulcahy; E. Orru; M. Pandey-Pommier; L. Pratley; E. Rol; H. J.A. Röttgering; A. M.M. Scaife; A. Shulevski; C. A. Sobey; B. W. Stappers; C. Tasse; A. J. van der Horst; S. van Velzen; R. J. van Weeren; R. A.M.J. Wijers; R. Wijnands; M. Wise; P. Zarka; A. Alexov; J. Anderson; A. Asgekar; I. M. Avruch; M. J. Bentum; G. Bernardi; P. Best; F. Breitling; M. Brüggen; H. R. Butcher; B. Ciardi; J. E. Conway; A. Corstanje; E. de Geus; A. Deller; S. Duscha; W. Frieswijk; M. A. Garrett; A. W. Gunst; M. P. Van Haarlem; M. Hoeft; J. Hörandel; E. Juette; G. Kuper; M. Loose; P. Maat; R. McFadden; D. McKay-Bukowski; J. Moldon; H. Munk; M. J. Norden; H. Paas; A. G. Polatidis; D. Schwarz; J. Sluman; O. Smirnov; M. Steinmetz; S. Thoudam; M. C. Toribio; R. Vermeulen; C. Vocks; S. J. Wijnholds; O. Wucknitz; S. Yatawatta

doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2797

LOFAR MSSS: Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole

A. J. Stewart
, R. P. Fender
, J. W. Broderick
, T. E. Hassall
, T. Muñoz-Darias
, A. Rowlinson
, J. D. Swinbank
, T. D. Staley
, G. J. Molenaar
, B. Scheers
, T. L. Grobler
, M. Pietka
, G. Heald
, J. P. McKean
, M. E. Bell
, A. Bonafede
, R. P. Breton
, D. Carbone
, Y. Cendes
, A. O. Clarke

S. Corbel, F. De Gasperin, J. Eislöffel, H. Falcke, C. Ferrari, J. M. Grießmeier, M. J. Hardcastle, V. Heesen, J. W.T. Hessels, A. Horneffer, M. Iacobelli, P. Jonker, A. Karastergiou, G. Kokotanekov, V. I. Kondratiev, M. Kuniyoshi, C. J. Law, J. van Leeuwen, S. Markoff, J. C.A. Miller-Jones, D. Mulcahy, E. Orru, M. Pandey-Pommier, L. Pratley, E. Rol, H. J.A. Röttgering, A. M.M. Scaife, A. Shulevski, C. A. Sobey, B. W. Stappers, C. Tasse, A. J. van der Horst, S. van Velzen, R. J. van Weeren, R. A.M.J. Wijers, R. Wijnands, M. Wise, P. Zarka, A. Alexov, J. Anderson, A. Asgekar, I. M. Avruch, M. J. Bentum, G. Bernardi, P. Best, F. Breitling, M. Brüggen, H. R. Butcher, B. Ciardi, J. E. Conway, A. Corstanje, E. de Geus, A. Deller, S. Duscha, W. Frieswijk, M. A. Garrett, A. W. Gunst, M. P. Van Haarlem, M. Hoeft, J. Hörandel, E. Juette, G. Kuper, M. Loose, P. Maat, R. McFadden, D. McKay-Bukowski, J. Moldon, H. Munk, M. J. Norden, H. Paas, A. G. Polatidis, D. Schwarz, J. Sluman, O. Smirnov, M. Steinmetz, S. Thoudam, M. C. Toribio, R. Vermeulen, C. Vocks, S. J. Wijnholds, O. Wucknitz, S. Yatawatta

Physics

University of Oxford
University of Southampton
Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Universidad de la Laguna
University of Amsterdam
Princeton University
Rhodes University
Science Park 123
SKA South Africa
University of Groningen
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
University of Sydney
Universität Hamburg
University of Manchester
91191
Observatoire de Paris
Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg
Radboud University Nijmegen
Laboratoire Lagrange, UMR 7293, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
LPC2E - Univ. d'Orléans/cnrs
University of Hertfordshire
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
SRON Netherlands Insitute for Space Research
P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of California, Berkeley
Curtin University
Observatoire de Lyon
Victoria University of Wellington
Monash University
Leiden University
GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot
The George Washington University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
LESIA - Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique
Space Telescope Science Institute
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Shell Technology Center
University of Twente
University of Edinburgh, Institute for Astronomy
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)
Australian National University
Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Onsala Space Observatory
SmarterVision BV
University of Bochum
Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory
Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
University Groningen
Universität Bielefeld

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the results of a four-month campaign searching for low-frequency radio transients near the North Celestial Pole with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), as part of the Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS). The data were recorded between 2011 December and 2012 April and comprised 2149 11-min snapshots, each covering 175 deg². We have found one convincing candidate astrophysical transient, with a duration of a few minutes and a flux density at 60 MHz of 15-25 Jy. The transient does not repeat and has no obvious optical or high-energy counterpart, as a result of which its nature is unclear. The detection of this event implies a transient rate at 60 MHz of 3.9_-3.7^+14.7 × 10^-4 d^-1 deg^-2, and a transient surface density of 1.5 × 10^-5 deg^-2, at a 7.9-Jy limiting flux density and ~10-min time-scale. The campaign data were also searched for transients at a range of other time-scales, from 0.5 to 297 min, which allowed us to place a range of limits on transient rates at 60MHz as a function of observation duration.

Original language	British English
Pages (from-to)	2321-2342
Number of pages	22
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	456
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2797
State	Published - 1 Mar 2016

Keywords

Instrumentation: interferometers
Radio continuum: general
Techniques: image processing

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10.1093/mnras/stv2797

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Stewart, A. J., Fender, R. P., Broderick, J. W., Hassall, T. E., Muñoz-Darias, T., Rowlinson, A., Swinbank, J. D., Staley, T. D., Molenaar, G. J., Scheers, B., Grobler, T. L., Pietka, M., Heald, G., McKean, J. P., Bell, M. E., Bonafede, A., Breton, R. P., Carbone, D., Cendes, Y., ... Yatawatta, S. (2016). LOFAR MSSS: Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 456(3), 2321-2342. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2797

@article{5bf87b086de14161a2e2b4ac81902ef2,

title = "LOFAR MSSS: Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole",

abstract = "We present the results of a four-month campaign searching for low-frequency radio transients near the North Celestial Pole with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), as part of the Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS). The data were recorded between 2011 December and 2012 April and comprised 2149 11-min snapshots, each covering 175 deg2. We have found one convincing candidate astrophysical transient, with a duration of a few minutes and a flux density at 60 MHz of 15-25 Jy. The transient does not repeat and has no obvious optical or high-energy counterpart, as a result of which its nature is unclear. The detection of this event implies a transient rate at 60 MHz of 3.9-3.7+14.7 × 10-4 d-1 deg-2, and a transient surface density of 1.5 × 10-5 deg-2, at a 7.9-Jy limiting flux density and \textasciitilde{}10-min time-scale. The campaign data were also searched for transients at a range of other time-scales, from 0.5 to 297 min, which allowed us to place a range of limits on transient rates at 60MHz as a function of observation duration.",

keywords = "Instrumentation: interferometers, Radio continuum: general, Techniques: image processing",

author = "Stewart, \{A. J.\} and Fender, \{R. P.\} and Broderick, \{J. W.\} and Hassall, \{T. E.\} and T. Mu{\~n}oz-Darias and A. Rowlinson and Swinbank, \{J. D.\} and Staley, \{T. D.\} and Molenaar, \{G. J.\} and B. Scheers and Grobler, \{T. L.\} and M. Pietka and G. Heald and McKean, \{J. P.\} and Bell, \{M. E.\} and A. Bonafede and Breton, \{R. P.\} and D. Carbone and Y. Cendes and Clarke, \{A. O.\} and S. Corbel and \{De Gasperin\}, F. and J. Eisl{\"o}ffel and H. Falcke and C. Ferrari and Grie{\ss}meier, \{J. M.\} and Hardcastle, \{M. J.\} and V. Heesen and Hessels, \{J. W.T.\} and A. Horneffer and M. Iacobelli and P. Jonker and A. Karastergiou and G. Kokotanekov and Kondratiev, \{V. I.\} and M. Kuniyoshi and Law, \{C. J.\} and \{van Leeuwen\}, J. and S. Markoff and Miller-Jones, \{J. C.A.\} and D. Mulcahy and E. Orru and M. Pandey-Pommier and L. Pratley and E. Rol and R{\"o}ttgering, \{H. J.A.\} and Scaife, \{A. M.M.\} and A. Shulevski and Sobey, \{C. A.\} and Stappers, \{B. W.\} and C. Tasse and \{van der Horst\}, \{A. J.\} and \{van Velzen\}, S. and \{van Weeren\}, \{R. J.\} and Wijers, \{R. A.M.J.\} and R. Wijnands and M. Wise and P. Zarka and A. Alexov and J. Anderson and A. Asgekar and Avruch, \{I. M.\} and Bentum, \{M. J.\} and G. Bernardi and P. Best and F. Breitling and M. Br{\"u}ggen and Butcher, \{H. R.\} and B. Ciardi and Conway, \{J. E.\} and A. Corstanje and \{de Geus\}, E. and A. Deller and S. Duscha and W. Frieswijk and Garrett, \{M. A.\} and Gunst, \{A. W.\} and \{Van Haarlem\}, \{M. P.\} and M. Hoeft and J. H{\"o}randel and E. Juette and G. Kuper and M. Loose and P. Maat and R. McFadden and D. McKay-Bukowski and J. Moldon and H. Munk and Norden, \{M. J.\} and H. Paas and Polatidis, \{A. G.\} and D. Schwarz and J. Sluman and O. Smirnov and M. Steinmetz and S. Thoudam and Toribio, \{M. C.\} and R. Vermeulen and C. Vocks and Wijnholds, \{S. J.\} and O. Wucknitz and S. Yatawatta",

note = "Funding Information: A.J.S., J.W.B., T.E.H., T.M.-D., T.D.S. and M.P. acknowledge support from the European Research Council via Advanced Investigator Grant no. 267697 4 Pi Sky: Extreme Astrophysics with Revolutionary Radio Telescopes (PI: R.P. Fender). T.M.-D. also acknowledges support by the SpanishMinisterio de Economia y competitividad (MINECO) under grant AYA2013-42627. A.R., J.D.S., G.J.M., D.C., Y.C. and A.J.vdH. acknowledge support from the European Research Council via Advanced Investigator Grant no. 247295 (PI: R.A.M.J. Wijers). B.S. acknowlegdes partial funding from the research programme of the Netherlands eScience Center (www.nlesc.nl). T.L.G. acknowledges support from the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. S.C. acknowledges financial support from the UnivEarthS Labex program of Sorbonne Paris Cit{\'e} (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX- 0005-02). J.W.T.H. acknowledges funding from an NWO Vidi fellowship and from the European Research Council under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Starting Grant agreement nr. 337062 ({\textquoteleft}DRAGNET”). We would like to warmly thank LOFAR Science Support for their efforts during commissioning and the continued support of handling and processing LOFAR data. The authors would also like to thank Rachel Osten for helpful discussions during the project, along with the anonymous referee for their insightful comments and suggestions that improved the presentation of this paper. LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation under a joint scientific policy. The LT is operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. This research has made use of the SIMBAD data base and the VizieR catalogue access tool, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 The Authors.",

year = "2016",

month = mar,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stv2797",

language = "British English",

volume = "456",

pages = "2321--2342",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "3",

}

Stewart, AJ, Fender, RP, Broderick, JW, Hassall, TE, Muñoz-Darias, T, Rowlinson, A, Swinbank, JD, Staley, TD, Molenaar, GJ, Scheers, B, Grobler, TL, Pietka, M, Heald, G, McKean, JP, Bell, ME, Bonafede, A, Breton, RP, Carbone, D, Cendes, Y, Clarke, AO, Corbel, S, De Gasperin, F, Eislöffel, J, Falcke, H, Ferrari, C, Grießmeier, JM, Hardcastle, MJ, Heesen, V, Hessels, JWT, Horneffer, A, Iacobelli, M, Jonker, P, Karastergiou, A, Kokotanekov, G, Kondratiev, VI, Kuniyoshi, M, Law, CJ, van Leeuwen, J, Markoff, S, Miller-Jones, JCA, Mulcahy, D, Orru, E, Pandey-Pommier, M, Pratley, L, Rol, E, Röttgering, HJA, Scaife, AMM, Shulevski, A, Sobey, CA, Stappers, BW, Tasse, C, van der Horst, AJ, van Velzen, S, van Weeren, RJ, Wijers, RAMJ, Wijnands, R, Wise, M, Zarka, P, Alexov, A, Anderson, J, Asgekar, A, Avruch, IM, Bentum, MJ, Bernardi, G, Best, P, Breitling, F, Brüggen, M, Butcher, HR, Ciardi, B, Conway, JE, Corstanje, A, de Geus, E, Deller, A, Duscha, S, Frieswijk, W, Garrett, MA, Gunst, AW, Van Haarlem, MP, Hoeft, M, Hörandel, J, Juette, E, Kuper, G, Loose, M, Maat, P, McFadden, R, McKay-Bukowski, D, Moldon, J, Munk, H, Norden, MJ, Paas, H, Polatidis, AG, Schwarz, D, Sluman, J, Smirnov, O, Steinmetz, M, Thoudam, S, Toribio, MC, Vermeulen, R, Vocks, C, Wijnholds, SJ, Wucknitz, O & Yatawatta, S 2016, 'LOFAR MSSS: Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 456, no. 3, pp. 2321-2342. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2797

TY - JOUR

T1 - LOFAR MSSS

T2 - Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole

AU - Stewart, A. J.

AU - Fender, R. P.

AU - Broderick, J. W.

AU - Hassall, T. E.

AU - Muñoz-Darias, T.

AU - Rowlinson, A.

AU - Swinbank, J. D.

AU - Staley, T. D.

AU - Molenaar, G. J.

AU - Scheers, B.

AU - Grobler, T. L.

AU - Pietka, M.

AU - Heald, G.

AU - McKean, J. P.

AU - Bell, M. E.

AU - Bonafede, A.

AU - Breton, R. P.

AU - Carbone, D.

AU - Cendes, Y.

AU - Clarke, A. O.

AU - Corbel, S.

AU - De Gasperin, F.

AU - Eislöffel, J.

AU - Falcke, H.

AU - Ferrari, C.

AU - Grießmeier, J. M.

AU - Hardcastle, M. J.

AU - Heesen, V.

AU - Hessels, J. W.T.

AU - Horneffer, A.

AU - Iacobelli, M.

AU - Jonker, P.

AU - Karastergiou, A.

AU - Kokotanekov, G.

AU - Kondratiev, V. I.

AU - Kuniyoshi, M.

AU - Law, C. J.

AU - van Leeuwen, J.

AU - Markoff, S.

AU - Miller-Jones, J. C.A.

AU - Mulcahy, D.

AU - Orru, E.

AU - Pandey-Pommier, M.

AU - Pratley, L.

AU - Rol, E.

AU - Röttgering, H. J.A.

AU - Scaife, A. M.M.

AU - Shulevski, A.

AU - Sobey, C. A.

AU - Stappers, B. W.

AU - Tasse, C.

AU - van der Horst, A. J.

AU - van Velzen, S.

AU - van Weeren, R. J.

AU - Wijers, R. A.M.J.

AU - Wijnands, R.

AU - Wise, M.

AU - Zarka, P.

AU - Alexov, A.

AU - Anderson, J.

AU - Asgekar, A.

AU - Avruch, I. M.

AU - Bentum, M. J.

AU - Bernardi, G.

AU - Best, P.

AU - Breitling, F.

AU - Brüggen, M.

AU - Butcher, H. R.

AU - Ciardi, B.

AU - Conway, J. E.

AU - Corstanje, A.

AU - de Geus, E.

AU - Deller, A.

AU - Duscha, S.

AU - Frieswijk, W.

AU - Garrett, M. A.

AU - Gunst, A. W.

AU - Van Haarlem, M. P.

AU - Hoeft, M.

AU - Hörandel, J.

AU - Juette, E.

AU - Kuper, G.

AU - Loose, M.

AU - Maat, P.

AU - McFadden, R.

AU - McKay-Bukowski, D.

AU - Moldon, J.

AU - Munk, H.

AU - Norden, M. J.

AU - Paas, H.

AU - Polatidis, A. G.

AU - Schwarz, D.

AU - Sluman, J.

AU - Smirnov, O.

AU - Steinmetz, M.

AU - Thoudam, S.

AU - Toribio, M. C.

AU - Vermeulen, R.

AU - Vocks, C.

AU - Wijnholds, S. J.

AU - Wucknitz, O.

AU - Yatawatta, S.

N1 - Funding Information: A.J.S., J.W.B., T.E.H., T.M.-D., T.D.S. and M.P. acknowledge support from the European Research Council via Advanced Investigator Grant no. 267697 4 Pi Sky: Extreme Astrophysics with Revolutionary Radio Telescopes (PI: R.P. Fender). T.M.-D. also acknowledges support by the SpanishMinisterio de Economia y competitividad (MINECO) under grant AYA2013-42627. A.R., J.D.S., G.J.M., D.C., Y.C. and A.J.vdH. acknowledge support from the European Research Council via Advanced Investigator Grant no. 247295 (PI: R.A.M.J. Wijers). B.S. acknowlegdes partial funding from the research programme of the Netherlands eScience Center (www.nlesc.nl). T.L.G. acknowledges support from the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. S.C. acknowledges financial support from the UnivEarthS Labex program of Sorbonne Paris Cité (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX- 0005-02). J.W.T.H. acknowledges funding from an NWO Vidi fellowship and from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Starting Grant agreement nr. 337062 (‘DRAGNET”). We would like to warmly thank LOFAR Science Support for their efforts during commissioning and the continued support of handling and processing LOFAR data. The authors would also like to thank Rachel Osten for helpful discussions during the project, along with the anonymous referee for their insightful comments and suggestions that improved the presentation of this paper. LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation under a joint scientific policy. The LT is operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. This research has made use of the SIMBAD data base and the VizieR catalogue access tool, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Publisher Copyright: © 2015 The Authors.

PY - 2016/3/1

Y1 - 2016/3/1

N2 - We present the results of a four-month campaign searching for low-frequency radio transients near the North Celestial Pole with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), as part of the Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS). The data were recorded between 2011 December and 2012 April and comprised 2149 11-min snapshots, each covering 175 deg2. We have found one convincing candidate astrophysical transient, with a duration of a few minutes and a flux density at 60 MHz of 15-25 Jy. The transient does not repeat and has no obvious optical or high-energy counterpart, as a result of which its nature is unclear. The detection of this event implies a transient rate at 60 MHz of 3.9-3.7+14.7 × 10-4 d-1 deg-2, and a transient surface density of 1.5 × 10-5 deg-2, at a 7.9-Jy limiting flux density and ~10-min time-scale. The campaign data were also searched for transients at a range of other time-scales, from 0.5 to 297 min, which allowed us to place a range of limits on transient rates at 60MHz as a function of observation duration.

AB - We present the results of a four-month campaign searching for low-frequency radio transients near the North Celestial Pole with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), as part of the Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS). The data were recorded between 2011 December and 2012 April and comprised 2149 11-min snapshots, each covering 175 deg2. We have found one convincing candidate astrophysical transient, with a duration of a few minutes and a flux density at 60 MHz of 15-25 Jy. The transient does not repeat and has no obvious optical or high-energy counterpart, as a result of which its nature is unclear. The detection of this event implies a transient rate at 60 MHz of 3.9-3.7+14.7 × 10-4 d-1 deg-2, and a transient surface density of 1.5 × 10-5 deg-2, at a 7.9-Jy limiting flux density and ~10-min time-scale. The campaign data were also searched for transients at a range of other time-scales, from 0.5 to 297 min, which allowed us to place a range of limits on transient rates at 60MHz as a function of observation duration.

KW - Instrumentation: interferometers

KW - Radio continuum: general

KW - Techniques: image processing

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84964555627

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stv2797

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stv2797

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84964555627

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 456

SP - 2321

EP - 2342

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 3

ER -

LOFAR MSSS: Detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole

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