GPS in the cosmos

TL;DR

This paper recounts the historical development of Gigahertz-Peaked-Spectrum (GPS) radio sources, highlighting early research milestones and recent advances in this key area of extragalactic radio astronomy.

Contribution

It provides a first-hand historical account of GPS sources' discovery, evolution, and recent progress, clarifying the origin of the term and its significance.

Findings

Historical milestones in GPS research

Origin of the GPS acronym clarified

Recent developments in GPS sources

Abstract

This note chronicles the early steps and incidences from over four decades ago, that gave a kickstart to research on the now prominent subclass of radio galaxies, called 'Gigahertz-Peaked-Spectrum' (GPS) sources. In this first-hand account, the origin of the acronym 'GPS' in this context is retraced, along with the first crucial steps and the major milestones set in course of evolution of this now vibrant branch of extragalactic radio astronomy. A brief update on the recent developments in this field is also presented.