Microwave flux density variations of compact radio sources monitored by real‐time very long baseline interferometry

Abstract

Compact and strong radio sources were repeatedly observed in regular geodetic very long baseline interferometry experiments under the Key Stone Project. The flux densities of these sources in the S and X bands were estimated from a set of correlated amplitudes obtained through the correlation processing of the observed data. From ∼5 years of the observed data, irregular variations in the flux densities were detected for several radio sources using the source 2134+004 as the calibrator. The results showed the monitoring of flux density variations by means of very long baseline interferometry is feasible. Since the correlation processing of the observed data are performed real‐time using a high‐speed digital communication technique, this method gives a capability to monitor flux density variations of quasars and BL‐Lac types of extragalactic radio sources.