A Preliminary Survey of Radio Sources in a Limited Region of the Sky at a Wavelength of 3·5 m

Abstract

A preliminary catalogue has been prepared of radio sources observed in a sample area of about one steradian near the celestial equator: a total of 383 sources is listed. The brightest nebulae in the area are found to be radio sources. Statistical analysis of the catalogue reveals no obvious cosmological effects except, perhaps, for a significant degree of clustering which may be indicative of metagalactic structure. The catalogue is compared in detail with a recent Cambridge catalogue which includes the sample area; it is found that they are almost completely discordant. A theory is developed which explains this discordance in terms of instrumental effects and it is concluded that a major part of the Cambridge catalogue is affected by the low resolution of their radio interferometer.