Surveys Using NRAO Telescopes

Welcome to the Data Vault. Here you will find information about how to access raw and calibrated data, images, previously proposed observations, and published findings from observations made with NRAO telescopes.

Overall view of the VLA, looking South.

• NVAS - NRAO VLA Archive Survey

  Uses a newly developed automated pipeline process that interacts directly with the archive server, and produces images in a nearly hands off manner. There are 75,000 NVAS images currently in the archive. Since they are produced by an automated procedure, the NVAS images are generally not of as high quality as would be produced by an astronomer. NVAS quality images are called 'reference images'.

• NVSS - NRAO VLA Sky Survey

  2,280 VLA images observed at L band covering the entire sky.

  • Postage Stamps
  • Catalog Browser
  • Run File Generator
• FIRST - Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters

A project designed to produce the radio equivalent of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey over 10,000 square degrees of the North Galactic Cap. FIRST was observed with the VLA at L band in the B array configuration and contains 28,292 images.

• CLASS - Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey

  A high-resolution VLA radio image survey of over 10,000 flat-spectrum radio sources in order to create the largest and best studied statistical sample of radio-loud gravitationally lensed systems. Observations conducted using the VLA at X band in the A array configuration. The archive contains 14,674 images.

• MITVLA - MITVLA Gravitational Lens Snapshot Survey

  The 19 year MITVLA gravitational lens survey contains over 5,000 images, and was observed with the VLA in the A array configuration at C and X bands. The are MITVLA 4,318 images in the archive.

• GBT HI Galaxy Survey
• 2cmVLBA - NRAO VLBA 2cm Survey

  An imaging survey of compact radio sources at 15 GHZ. The VLBA provides images having milliarcsecond resolution. The survey achieves a dynamic range of typically exceeding 1000:1, with a typical noise limit (rms) of 0.35 milli-Jansky. The survey covers the entire sky, was observed at 2cm wavelength and contains 1,710 images.

• VCS - NRAO VLBA Calibrator Source Survey

  A catalog containing milliarcsecond-accurate positions (and images) of 1,659 extragalactic radio sources distributed over the northern sky is presented-the Very Long Baseline Array Calibrator Survey (VCS). The positions have been derived from astrometric analysis of dual-frequency 2.3 and 8.4 GHz VLBA snapshot observations.

• VLSS - The VLA Low-frequency Sky Survey

  The VLA Low-Frequency Sky Survey (VLSS) is a 74 MHz (4-meter wavelength) continuum survey covering the entire sky north of -30° declination. Utilizing the Very Large Array (VLA), the survey provides images with a resolution of 80" and with an average rms noise of 0.1 Jy/beam. Complete details are in "The VLA Low-Frequency Sky Survey" (Astron. J., vol. 134, p. 1245).