The Mpifr Radio Continuum Surveys and Their WWW Distribution

Abstract

The observation of an area of 120° × 56° centered on RA=8h DEC=20° at 408 MHz was the first astronomical use of the MPIfR 100-m telescope (1970) and was designed to compile a complete sky survey using also data from Jodrell Bank and Parkes (Haslam et al., 1982). The observation of the northern sky at 1420 MHz started in 1972 using the Stockert 25-m telescope and was finished in 1976 (Reich and Reich 1986). This survey has been completed to an all sky survey using data from Villa Elisa (Argentina). The two surveys are absolutely calibrated. The angular resolutions are 0.8° and 0.59°, respectively. A number of surveys of the Galactic plane have been made with the 100-m telescope at arc minute angular resolution. Surveys at 2695 MHz (|b| ≤ 5°) (Reich et al. 1990, Fürst et al. 1990) and at 1410 MHz (|b| < 4°) (Reich et al. 1990) are public.At medium Galactic latitudes (up to |b| = 20°) the emission consists mainly of faint extended ridges or arcs superimposed on the still dominating, about 10 times stronger, diffuse Galactic emission. They have never been investigated in a systematic way although they provide important clues for the understanding of the “disk-halo connection”. This region is covered by new observations at 1400 MHz with the 100-m telescope.