Canadian Galactic Plane Survey: 72,758 Compact Radio Sources at 1420 MHz

72,758 compact radio sources at 1420 MHz were cataloged from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS) covering 1,464 square degrees of the northern Galactic plane. The catalog, created by NASA HEASARC in June 2017, includes linear polarization properties for 12,368 sources and identifies 146 candidate variable and 13 candidate transient sources. Observations were carried out by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Synthesis Telescope in three phases from 1995 to 2009.

Use Cases

• Identify variable radio sources based on flux density comparisons with the NVSS catalog mentioned in the description.
• Study linear polarization properties of compact sources based on Stokes Q and U images.
• Analyze the distribution and characteristics of compact radio emission within a specific Galactic longitude and latitude range.
• Search for transient radio sources not detected in other surveys.

Strengths

• Contains 72,758 compact sources with a defined 5-sigma detection level of ~1.2 mJy.
• Includes polarization data for 12,368 sources with signals greater than 4 x sigma_QU.
• Covers a large area of 1,464 square degrees spanning 140 degrees of Galactic longitude.
• Identifies 146 candidate variable and 13 candidate transient sources for further study.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA HEASARC), based on data from the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory.

Collection Method

Observations from the Synthesis Telescope at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, processed into a machine-readable catalog.

Time Range

Observations conducted in three phases from 1995 to 2009.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:37:26.384808; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Galactic plane, covering Galactic longitude 52 to 192 degrees and a latitude width centered at b_II = 1 degree.