THE PARKES-MIT-NRAO (PMN) SURVEYS

Abstract of Paper II:

Abstract of Paper III:

File Summary:                                                                   
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File Name    Lrecl    Records    Explanations                                   
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Intro           80          .    This file                                      
pmnsouth        96      23277    The Southern (-87.5 to -37 degrees) Survey     
pmntrop         96      13363    The Tropical (-29 to -9.5 degrees) Survey      
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Byte-per-byte Description of file: pmnsouth                                     
Byte-per-byte Description of file: pmntrop                                      
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 Bytes Format  Units   Label    Explanations
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  1- 14  A14    ---     PMNJ     J2000-derived source name (PMNJhhmm-ddmma).
 16- 17  I2     h       RAh      Right Ascension J2000 (hours)
 19- 20  I2     min     RAm      Right Ascension J2000 (minutes)
 22- 25  F4.1   s       RAs      Right Ascension J2000 (seconds)
     27  A1     -       DE-      Declination J2000 (sign)
 28- 29  I2     deg     DEd      Declination J2000 (degrees)
 31- 32  I2     arcmin  DEm      Declination J2000 (minutes)
 34- 35  I2     arcsec  DEs      Declination J2000 (seconds)
 38- 43  I6     mJy     Flux     [20/100053] 4850 MHz flux density derived
				   from the Fixed-Width fit (see Paper 1)
 46- 47  I2     mJy     e_Flux   estimated standard error of above Flux (1)
 50- 55  I6     mJy     Gflux    [71/84049]? general-width flux (2)
 58- 59  I2     mJy     e_Gflux  []? error of general-width flux (2)
 62- 64  F3.1   ---     Wid1     [0.8/5]? fitted major source extent (3)
 67- 69  F3.1   ---     Wid2     [0.8/5]? fitted minor source extent (3)
 72- 76  F5.1   deg     Ang      [0/180[? position angle of source (3)
 78- 81  F4.1   ---     SI       [-4.5/2.6]? Spectral index alpha defined by
				     S(v) {prop.to.} v**alpha
				 computed from the present PMN fluxes at 4850
				 MHz and the 2700 MHz flux from PKSCAT90
     84  A1     ---     FlagD    [JN] Session in which the source was observed:
				   "J" indicates the June 1990 session
				   "N" indicates the November 1990 session
     86  A1     ---     FlagX    [X] "X" indicates that the source is
				     probably extended.
     88  A1     ---     FlagG    [G] "G" indicates that the source lies
				     within 10 deg of the Galactic plane.
     90  A1     ---     FlagZ    [Z] "Z" indicates a source which was
				     observed within 6 deg of the Parkes
				     telescope's zenith and has a
				     flux < 60 mJy.
     92  A1     ---     FlagS    [S] "S" indicates that the source lies
				     within 5 deg of solar contamination
				     from the telescope's sidelobes and
				     the data listed may be of lower quality.
     94  A1     ---     FlagP    [P] "P" indicates that this source lies
				     within 2' of a source listed in the
				     PKSCAT90 database and is probably
				     the same object.
     96  A1     ---     FlagM    [M] "M" indicates that this source lies
				     within 2' of a source listed in the
				     Molonglo 408 MHz catalog
				     (Large et al. 1981) and is probably
				     the same object.
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The error column gives the estimated standard error of the above flux. A standard error >99 mJy is listed as 99 mJy because of space limitations. We estimate the standard error (s.e.) on the flux density of a source (in mJy) to be: (s.e.)^2 = (EF)^2 + (2)^2 + (0.016.S)^2 + (EB)^2 where EF is the flux fitting error, the factor of 2 is the error from confusion, the factor of 0.016 is the gain error, and EB is an error resulting from uncertainties in the flux bias correction. Typically, EB was 1 mJy or 0.6log(S/mJy) mJy, whichever was greater. The flux fitting error, EF, was determined from our Monte Carlo simulations in each declination band and can be approximated for the Southern Survey by:

(EF)^2 = (11.8 + 0.085*dec)^2 + (0.050*S)^2

where S is in mJy and dec is the declination in degrees.

Note (2):
These columns give the 4850 MHz flux density and its error from the "General fit". This fit was made to sources having flux densities above 100 mJy and positions within 3' of the local maximum based on the fixed-width fit. This fit was done to detect and measure genuinely extended astronomical objects. We fitted a Gaussian having peak flux density, position, semi-major axis, semi-minor axis, and position angle as free parameters. However, because of the number of degrees of freedom permitted, the General fit was only meaningful for stronger sources.

Note (3):
Wid1 is the maximum source half-power width normalized by the telescope beamwidth of 4.2arcmin; Wid2 is the minimum source half-power width normalized by the telescope beamwidth; and position angle is that of the source's maximum dimension measured in the standard sense of North through East (in degrees). Note that the normalized widths of sources have a standard error of about 0.2, particularly for the weaker objects.

References:

Courtesy: Mark Griffith: griffith@astro.washington.edu

Heinz Andernach, Francois Ochsenbein [CDS]   09-May-1994

 PMN Southern, Zenith, Tropical & Equatorial Surveys 

This file describes the plain text versions of the point-source
catalogue data obtained from the Parkes-MIT-NRAO radio surveys for the
Southern, Zenith, Tropical and Equatorial zones.

The declination boundaries (in degrees) of these zones are:


	Southern   (-87 < DEC < -37)


	Zenith     (-37 < DEC < -29)


	Tropical   (-29 < DEC < -9.5) and


	Equatorial (-9.5 <DEC < +10) surveys.




The data is contained in four separate files called PMNS.TXT, PMNZ.TXT, 
PMNT.TXT and PMNE.TXT respectively. The fields in these files are exact
duplicates of the Tables contained in the three papers presenting the
survey data (Papers 2, 7, 3 & 6). Note that the flux density limits of the
survey zones are not the same. See the papers for more information.


These fields are:


Name: The J2000-derived source name. The names in this list have been
derived from their J2000 coordinates, in a manner similar to that used
in the PKSCAT90 catalog (Wright & Otrupcek, 1990). The first three
letters, "PMN", denote the Parkes-MIT-NRAO survey, and the fourth
letter, "J", denotes that the equinox and equator is J2000. The rest of
the name is derived from the hours and minutes of the right ascension
and the degrees and minutes of the declination (both J2000). For a few
objects, the name (but not the sources) is duplicated: in such cases we
have appended an "a" or "b" to the name.


R.A.2000: the J2000 right ascension as hh mm ss.s.


Dec.2000: the J2000 declination as _dd mm ss.


Flux: the 4850 MHz flux density in mJy derived from the Fixed-Width 
fit (see Paper 1).


s.e.: the estimated standard error of the above flux. (A standard error
>99  mJy is listed as 99 mJy because of space limitations: the accurate
value can be obtained from the equation given in : 2.)


SI: the spectral index, computed between the present PMN fluxes at 
4850 MHz and the 2700 MHz flux from PKSCAT90, for sources common 
to both databases.


The final columns denote various flags with the following meanings:


D: the session in which the source was observed. "J" indicates the June
session and "N" the November session.


X:  an "X" indicates that the source is probably extended. This
information is only available for sources whose Fixed-Width fit fluxes,
before the application of the flux bias corrections (see Paper 1), were
stronger than 100 mJy.


G:  a "G" indicates that the source lies within 10 degrees of the
Galactic plane.


Z:  a "Z" indicates a source which was observed within 6 degrees of the
Parkes telescope's zenith and has a flux < 60 mJy. Such objects may be
affected by residual problems in baseline removal and the data may be of
lower quality.


S:  an "S" indicates that the source lies within 5 degrees of solar
contamination from the telescope's sidelobes and the data listed may be
of lower quality.


P:  a "P" indicates that this source lies within 2' of a source listed
in the PKSCAT90 database and is probably the same object.


M:  an "M" indicates that this source lies within 2' of a source listed
in the Molonglo 408 MHz catalog (Large et al. 1981) and is probably the
same object.


For further information about these flags, see Paper 1.


In the same directory which contains this .doc file, there is a small PC
program called BROWSE.COM. This program permits browsing and finding
particular sources in the data files. It contains its own help file.


Alan Wright (EMAIL: awright@atnf.csiro.au)


(Parkes Observatory, Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO,Australia)


15-JUNE-1995