Mission Overview
Map of Observations
Wavelength Coverage
Radio continuum data in a single 42 MHz bandpass centered at 1.4 GHz (20 cm wavelength)
The Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) project surveyed 10,575 square degrees of the North and South Galactic Caps at a frequency of 1.4 GHz using the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA). An automated mapping pipeline was used to generate images with 1.8" pixels, a typical rms of 0.15 milliJansky (mJy), and a resolution of 5.4". At the 1 mJy source detection threshold, there are ~90 sources per square degree, ~35% of which have resolved structure on scales from 2–30". The survey covers approximately the same sky area as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and 30% of the sources have optical counterparts in SDSS.
Active From
1993 - 2011
Resolution
Source Position Accuracy - <1"
Imaging - 1.8" / pixel
Northern Beam, circular Gaussian FWHM - 5.4"
Southern Beam, elliptical Gaussian FWHM - 6.4-6.8" x 5.4"
Capabilities
- Point-source detection limit 1 mJy (deeper than any previous radio survey)
- Resolution 5.4" FWHM (accurate enough to identify faint optical counterparts)
- Images are available through MAST website
- Catalogs are available through the FIRST survey website