Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters

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Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters
Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array
Alternative namesFIRST
Started1993 Edit this on Wikidata
Ended2011 Edit this on Wikidata
Wavelength20 centimetre Edit this on Wikidata
Websitesundog.stsci.edu
[edit on Wikidata
]

Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, or FIRST, was an

David J. Helfand, who came up with the idea for the survey after they had completed the VLA Galactic Plane survey in 1990,[1] as well as Michael D. Gregg and Sally A. Laurent-Muehleisen.[2] The survey was started 50 years after the first systematic survey of the radio sky was completed by Grote Reber in April 1943.[3]

Survey

The survey covers 10,575

Galactic poles. The regions were chosen so that they would also be covered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 5 optical bands,[5] and the survey was comparable to the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey in terms of resolution and sensitivity.[3]

The observations were made in 'B' configuration at a wavelength of 20 centimetres (1,500 MHz) (in the

r.m.s. noise limit.[3]

The survey data was analysed using an automated pipeline through the Astronomical Image Processing System.[1] Images and catalogues from the survey were made available after quality checks, without a proprietary period.[8] Several versions of the survey catalogue have been generated, with the first published in 1997,[9] and the latest (as of 2017) published in December 2014.[4] The catalogue includes over 70,000 cross-identifications with SDSS and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS).[7] The expectation was that radio sources would be observed and 65,000 images produced by the survey;[1] the 2014 catalogue included 946,432 sources.[4] Sources in the catalogue follow a naming convention comprising the survey name and source coordinate with the format "FIRST Jhhmmss.s+ddmmss"; the convention is registered with the International Astronomical Union.[10]

Science

The resolution of the survey was chosen so that optical counterparts to the radio sources could be identified; complex radio sources with multiple components could be resolved (to avoid optical misidentifications); and radio morphology (e.g.,

large-scale structure of the Universe; and dark matter.[1] The survey produced a series of papers.[11] The survey paper has been referenced by over 1,600 other scientific publications.[3]

The survey sources were cross-matched with the Palomar Sky Survey to create the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS), which comprised quasar candidates that were then followed up with optical spectroscopy. The initial survey found 69 quasars, with 51 being newly identified.[12] A number of broad absorption line quasars were discovered by FIRST.[13][14] Other, high-redshift quasars were identified in the survey by cross-matching with SDSS.[15]

Variability was detected in over 1600 sources during the course of the survey, including stars, pulsars, galaxies, quasars, and unidentified radio sources.[16] On large scales, the two-point correlation function between radio galaxies was observed.[17]

References

  1. ^
    Bibcode:1994ASPC...61..165B
    .
  2. ^ "The VLA FIRST Survey". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ^
    doi:10.1086/176166
    .
  4. ^ a b c "The FIRST Survey Catalog: 14Dec17 Version". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Status of FIRST Survey Observations". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. ^ "SkyView surveys".
  7. ^ a b "What's New in FIRST?". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Description of the FIRST Survey". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  9. doi:10.1086/303564
    .
  10. ^ "Designation of FIRST Sources". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  11. ^ "The VLA FIRST Survey: Publications". sundog.stsci.edu. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  12. S2CID 119330027
    .
  13. S2CID 14603492
    .
  14. S2CID 15625175
    .
  15. S2CID 8989100
    .
  16. S2CID 118394490
    .
  17. S2CID 62068
    .
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