Galactic Radiation at Radio Frequencies. IV. The Distribution of Radio Stars in the Galaxy

Abstract

The distribution of sources of galactic noise at 100 Mc/s. in the galactic plane is deduced from the data of a previous survey. assuming axial symmetry. Effects of absorption and emission within the interstellar gas are considered and found to be negligible. Away from the galactic plane, the noise contours do not conform to a single spheroidal source distribution. Consideration is given to an isotropic contribution to the general background radiation-possibly extragalactic in origin. On the hypothesis that the background radiation is the aggregate emission from a distribution of radio stars typified by the discrete sources previously studied, estimates of the local number density, the flux from a typical radio star, and the distances of some of the observed discrete sources are made. These estimates are briefly discussed.