Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey: Multi-Epoch Radio Sky Maps

The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) provides radio wavelength observations of the entire sky from the ASKAP telescope in Western Australia. RACS initially covered the whole sky at 890 MHz and has since expanded to 1.4 and 1.7 GHz bands, with multiple epochs of data collected. The dataset is produced by the Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, and is available under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Study supermassive black holes and active galactic nuclei based on radio population data.
• Analyze galaxy evolution and cosmological anisotropy based on large-area sky coverage.
• Investigate transient astronomical events based on multi -epoch observations.
• Test and verify radio telescope calibration methods based on repeated survey data.

Strengths

• Survey covers the entire sky, a feat completed in weeks where previous telescopes took years.
• Data collected across multiple frequency bands (890 MHz, 1.4 GHz, 1.7 GHz) and multiple epochs.
• Generated by a telescope with 36 dishes and novel Phased Array Feed technology for high survey speed.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO

Collection Method

Observations from the ASKAP radio telescope using Phased Array Feed technology.

Time Range

Multiple epochs, including a second epoch for RACS-Low and RACS-Mid.

Freshness

Last updated: unknown

Geography

Observations cover the entire sky, sourced from the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.