A compiled catalog of rotation measures of radio point sources

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive catalog of 4553 extragalactic radio source RMs, compares it with existing data, identifies systematic uncertainties, and provides a method for calculating Galactic foreground RMs, all publicly accessible.

Contribution

The paper introduces a large, compiled RM catalog and a systematic approach for Galactic foreground RM estimation, improving data accuracy and accessibility.

Findings

Identified a systematic uncertainty of about 10 rad/m^2 in the NVSS RM catalog.

Provided a publicly available RM catalog and interface for Galactic RM calculations.

Enhanced understanding of Galactic foreground RM contributions.

Abstract

We compiled a catalog of Faraday rotation measures (RMs) for 4553 extragalactic radio point sources ublished in literature. These RMs were derived from multi-frequency polarization observations. The RM data are compared to those in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) RM catalog. We reveal a systematic uncertainty of about $10.0 \pm 1.5$\,rad~m$^{-2}$ in the NVSS RM catalog. The Galactic foreground RM is calculated through a weighted averaging method by using the compiled RM catalog together with the NVSS RM catalog, with careful consideration of uncertainties in the RM data. The data from the catalog and the interface for the Galactic foreground RM calculations are publicly available on the webpage: http://zmtt.bao.ac.cn/RM/.