An unbiased sample of bright southern Compact Steep Spectrum and Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum Sources

TL;DR

This paper presents an unbiased, flux-limited catalogue of 26 bright CSS and GPS radio sources in the Southern Hemisphere, including new data and optical measurements, serving as a reference for future faint source studies.

Contribution

It provides the first unbiased, flux-limited sample of bright CSS and GPS sources in the Southern Hemisphere with comprehensive data and optical measurements.

Findings

Catalogue includes 26 sources with 2 new candidates.

Provides new ATCA radio data for 10 sources.

Serves as a reference for future faint source samples.

Abstract

Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) and Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) sources are classes of compact, powerful, extragalactic objects. These sources are thought to be the earliest stages in the evolution of radio galaxies, capturing the ignition (or, in some cases, re-ignition) of the AGN. As well as serving as probes of the early stages of large-scale radio sources, these sources are good, stable, amplitude calibrators for radio telescopes. We present an unbiased flux density limited (>1.5 Jy at 2.7 GHz) catalogue of these objects in the Southern Hemisphere, including tabulated data, radio spectra, and where available, optical images and measurements. The catalogue contains 26 sources, consisting of 2 new candidate and 15 known CSS sources, and 9 known GPS sources. We present new Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) data on ten of these 26 sources, and data on a further 42 sources which were excluded from our final sample. This bright sample will serve as a reference sample for comparison with subsequent faint (mJy level) samples of CSS and GPS candidates currently being compiled.