Phoenix Deep Survey: Optical and Near-Infrared Counterparts for Faint Radio Galaxies

About 50% of the ~3 square degree radio survey's sources are identified with optical counterparts to m_R = 22.5 magnitudes. Spectroscopic observations for about 40% of the optically identified sample provide redshifts and stellar content, revealing most emission-line sources are star-forming galaxies. This catalog was created by NASA HEASARC in June 2013 based on data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array and associated optical/near-infrared observations.

Use Cases

• Classifying galaxy types (star-forming vs. Seyfert vs. elliptical) based on spectroscopic emission-line ratios.
• Studying the correlation between radio power and H-alpha luminosity as an indicator of star formation activity.
• Analyzing the visual extinction (A_V = 1.0) and color properties ((V - R), (R - K)) of faint radio sources.
• Investigating the population of absorption-line systems (likely ellipticals) across flux density levels from sub-mJy to >1 mJy.

Strengths

• Multi-wavelength data combining radio, optical (CCD photometry), near-infrared (K-band), and spectroscopic observations.
• Spectroscopic data for about 40% of the optically identified sample provides redshifts and emission-line diagnostics.
• Covers a defined area of ~3 square degrees to a 4-sigma radio sensitivity of >= 100 microJansky at 1.4 GHz.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The cosmology model used (H_0 = 50 km s^-1 Mpc^-1, q_0 = 0.5) is an older standard.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA HEASARC), based on data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and reference paper J/MNRAS/306/708.

Collection Method

Created from an electronic version of the reference paper's Table 1, obtained from the CDS web site.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 16:55:11.869013; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Centered on RA 1h 14m 12.16s, Dec -45° 44' 08.0" (Galactic latitude -71°), known as the Phoenix Deep Field.