VLA/JVLA monitoring of bright northern radio sources

Creators: Kurinsky, N.; Sajina, A.; Partridge, B.; Myers, S. T.; Chen, X.; López-Caniego, M.

Abstract

We report multiple epoch VLA/JVLA observations of 89 northern hemisphere sources, most with 37 GHz flux density >1 Jy, observed at 4.8, 8.5, 33.5, and 43.3 GHz. The high frequency selection leads to a predominantly flat spectrum sample, with 85% of our sources being in the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalog (ERCSC). These observations allow us to: 1) validate Planck's 30 and 44 GHz flux density scale; 2) extend the radio spectral energy distributions of Planck sources to lower frequencies allowing for the full 5−857 GHz regime to be studied; and 3) characterize the variability of these sources. At 30 GHz and 44 GHz, the JVLA and Planck flux densities agree to within ~3%. On timescales of less than two months the median variability of our sources is 2%. On timescales of about a year the median variability increases to 14%. Using the WMAP 7-year data, the 30 GHz median variability on a 1−6 years timescale is 16%.

Additional Information

© 2013 ESO. Received 20 June 2012. Accepted 13 November 2012. Published online 14 January 2013. We are grateful to the anonymous referee for a careful reading of the paper and many useful suggestions which have improved the quality and presentation of the paper. We are particularly grateful to the Planck Collaboration for providing the public Early Release Compact Source Catalog (ERCSC). A description of the Planck Collaboration and a list of its members, including the technical or scientific activities in which they have been involved, can be found at http://www.sciops.esa.int/index.php? project=planck&page=Planck_Collaboration. This paper makes use of observations obtained at the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) which is an instrument of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. We are especially grateful to Leon Tavares for providing source lists of sources, drawn from the Complete Northern 1 Jy sample, to be observed by Planck in a given week. We are also grateful to Charles Lawrence and Joaquin Gonzales-Nuevo for helpful discussions and reviews of the manuscript before submission. This work was funded through a subcontract to Tufts University, and another to Haverford College from NASA/JPL in support of Planck related activities. MLC acknowledges financial support from the Spanish MINECO projects AYA2010-21766-C03-01 and CSD2010-00064. The development of Planck has been supported by: ESA; CNES and CNRS/INSU-IN2P3-INP (France); ASI, CNR, and INAF (Italy); NASA and DoE (USA); STFC and UKSA (UK); CSIC, MICINN and JA (Spain); Tekes, AoF and CSC (Finland); DLR and MPG (Germany); CSA (Canada); DTU Space (Denmark); SER/SSO (Switzerland); RCN (Norway); SFI (Ireland); FCT/MCTES (Portugal); and The development of Planck has been supported by: ESA; CNES and CNRS/INSU-IN2P3-INP (France); ASI, CNR, and INAF (Italy); NASA and DoE (USA); STFC and UKSA (UK); CSIC, MICINN and JA (Spain); Tekes, AoF and CSC (Finland); DLR and MPG (Germany); CSA (Canada); DTU Space (Denmark); SER/SSO (Switzerland); RCN (Norway); SFI (Ireland); FCT/MCTES (Portugal); and PRACE (EU).

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