The VLA-COSMOS Survey:
I. Radio Identifications from the Pilot Project

E. Schinnerer, C.L. Carilli, N.Z. Scoville, M. Bondi, P. Ciliegi, P. Vettolani, O. Le Fevre, A.M. Koekemoer, F. Bertoldi, C.D. Impey

We present a catalog of 246 radio sources found in the central 1 degree of the COSMOS field at 1.4GHz. The VLA pilot project data have a resolution of 1.9"x1.6" and an rms noise limit of about 25-100 uJy/beam covering 0.837 sqrdeg. About 20 radio sources are clearly extended and most of them appear to be double-lobed radio galaxies. We find evidence for a cluster of 7 radio sources with an extent of ~10' southeast of the COSMOS field center. This VLA pilot project was undertaken to demonstrate the feasibility of wide-field mosaicking at 2'' resolution at 1.4GHz. The 7-point mosaic data was used to develop the techniques necessary for reduction and analysis. These data will provide the initial astrometric frame for the optical (ground- and space-based) data of the COSMOS 2 sqrdeg survey. In addition, it demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining deep radio imaging of this field at 1.4GHz, since no radio emission peak above 13 mJy/beam has been detected within the area covered as well as no strong side-lobes from sources surrounding the COSMOS field. Comparison of the number counts to other deep radio surveys shows that the COSMOS field is a representative deep field in the radio domain.


Published (2004, AJ, 128, 1974)