Thursday

Radio observations, especially at low frequencies, provide a unique window into the extragalactic universe. The lack of dust attenuation at these frequencies, as well as the ability to trace both Star Forming Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei out to high redshifts through their synchrotron emission, means we can use LOFAR observations to trace the evolution of galaxies. This allows greater understanding of the physical processes influencing their evolution.

In this talk I shall present the imaging and early science from LOFAR observations of the XMM-LSS field. This field is challenging due to being at low declination (-4.5 degrees), and thus at low elevation to the LOFAR antennae. This has been a difficult field to image, but due to the wealth of multi-wavelength information available, it is an important field to study. I shall present information on the observations and the difficulties faced when reducing these data, before showing the final image of the field. I will then discuss the catalogue extracted from these observations as well as the interesting emission and sources that can be seen in this field at these low frequencies.

I will then present early science that can done with this data (e.g. spectral indices, clustering and source properties), emphasising the importance of the complementary data at other wavelengths and the further uses of these multi wavelength observations for understanding galaxy evolution.