VLBA Calibrator Survey 1 (VCS1)


A catalog containing milliarcsecond-accurate positions of 1332 extragalactic radio sources distributed over the northern sky is presented-the Very Long Baseline Array Calibrator Survey (VCS1). The positions have been derived from astrometric analysis of dual-frequency 2.3 and 8.4 GHz VLBA snapshot observations; in a majority of cases, images of the sources are also available. These radio sources are suitable for use in geodetic and astrometric experiments, and as phase-reference calibrators in high-sensitivity astronomical imaging. The VCS1 is the largest high-resolution radio survey ever undertaken and triples the number of sources available to the radio astronomy community for VLBI applications. In addition to the astrometric role, this survey can be used in active galactic nuclei, Galactic, gravitational lens, and cosmological studies.

Publication: Beasley, A.J., D. Gordron, A.B. Peck, L. Petrov, D.S.McMillan, E.B. Fomalont, C. Ma, "The VLBA Calibrator Survey-VCS1", Asrophys. J., Supp., vol. 141, p.13-21, 2002. Full text   (PS + gzip, 736Kb )    PDF-file.

The catalogue of source positions is available here.

The original images and calibrated visibilities at 8.4GHz and 2.2GHz made in the framework of this project were lost in 1990s. The experiments were re-analyzed in 2006 by Yu. Y. Kovalev. Preliminary images can be accessed from the 2007a_astro catalogue or individually, here.


Back to VLBA Calibrator Survey web page.

NOTE: Content from this Web site cannot be displayed on-line on any other servers without written permission from authors.

Last update: 23-MAR-2004 22:47:34
Web page was prepared by ()