The Cyg OB2 Radio Survey (COBRaS) is designed to exploit e-MERLIN's enhanced capabilities to conduct uniquely probing, targeted deep-field mapping of the tremendously rich Cyg OB2 association in our Galaxy. The project aims to deliver the most detailed radio census for the most massive OB association in the northern hemisphere, offering direct comparison to not only massive clusters in general, but also young globular clusters and super star clusters.

Principal Investigators: Raman Prinja (University College London)
Time Allocation: 294 hours (e-MERLIN including Lovell Telescope).

The Cyg OB2 Radio Survey (COBRaS) is designed to exploit e-MERLIN's enhanced capabilities to conduct uniquely probing, targeted deep-field mapping of the tremendously rich Cyg OB2 association in our Galaxy. The project aims to deliver the most detailed radio census for the most massive OB association in the northern hemisphere, offering direct comparison to not only massive clusters in general, but also young globular clusters and super star clusters. With the COBRaS Legacy project we will assemble a uniform dataset of lasting value that is critical for advancing our understanding of current astrophysical problems in the inter-related core themes of:
1) Mass loss and evolution of massive stars
2) The formation, dynamics and content of massive OB associations
3) The frequency of massive binaries and the incidence of non-thermal radiation
Based on a total awarded allocation of 252 hrs and 42 hrs for C- and L-band observations, respectively, the substantial COBRaS dataset will be powerfully combined with other multi-waveband surveys of the Cygnus X region, both current (IPHAS, Spitzer, and Chandra) and in future programmes (Herschel and JWST). This project will therefore not only yield substantial results for the key science areas identified above, but it will also provide new perspectives for numerous additional archival studies in stellar and extragalactic astrophysics. The COBRaS project will thus yield a very valuable Legacy dataset for the wider community.


Co-Investigators
Felix Aharonian (DIAS, Ireland) Mike Barlow (University College London, UK) Ronny Blomme (Royal Observatory of Belgium) Ishwara Chandra (GMRT, Tata Institute, India) Simon Clark (Open University, UK) Paul Crowther (University of Sheffield, UK) Phil Diamond (JBCA, Manchester, UK / CASS, Australia) Sean Dougherty (NRC, Canada) Jeremy Drake (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, USA) Janet Drew (University of Hertfordshire, UK) Stewart Eyres (University of Central Lancashire, UK) Danielle Fenech (University. College London, UK) Simon Goodwin (University of Sheffield, UK) Joseph Hora (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, USA) Ian Howarth (University College London, UK) Dan Kiminki (University of Wyoming, USA) Chip Kobulnicky (University. of Wyoming , USA) Derck Massa (STScI, Baltimore, USA) Julian Pittard (University of Leeds, UK) Anita Richards (JBCA, Manchester, UK) Salvo Scuderi (Astronom. Observatory, Catania) Howard Smith (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, USA) Ian Stevens (University of Birmingham, UK) Joan Vandekerckhove (Royal Obs. of Belgium) Jacco Van Loon (University of Keele, UK) Jorick Vink (Armagh Observatory, UK) Martin Ward (University of Durham, UK) Allan Willis (University College London, UK) Dugan Witherick (University College London, UK) Nick Wright (Harvard-Smithsonisan CfA, USA) Jeremy Yates (University College London, UK)


Publications
COBRaS ADS Publication Library plus associated works that use COBRaS data

Full proposal (pdf), as originally submitted prior to time allocation.