Activities of the GLAST/LAT AGN Science Working Group and Public Ressources:
Radio Associations	Ongoing VLBI Programs	VLBI Programs of the Past	Radio Flux Density Monitoring	Proposal Opportunities	LAT Team Contacts

Fermi (formerly GLAST), NASAs new gamma-ray observatory, has been launched on June 11, 2008. Fermi's main detector, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), monitors the whole sky with unprecedented sensitivity and provides us with a tremendous opportunity to examine relativistic jets in active galaxies. The all-sky character of Fermi and the broadband emission characteristsics of its primary science targets has resulted in a significant increase in multiwavelength efforts and collaborations. Radio observations play a particularly important role in this framework since comparitive studies with VLBI and radio monitoring programs yield insights as to where the gamma-rays are produced, and how jets are launched and collimated.

Here we provide a clearinghouse of information about ongoing activities in the radio, especially those that are conducted in collaboration with the Fermi/LAT Science Working Group on Blazars and Other AGN and useful public ressources.

News

[Archive]

February 9, 2009: Fermi/LAT Bright Source List is online.
February 8, 2009: Fermi Bright Source List and Bright AGN papers appear on astro-ph. Based on 3 months of Fermi all-sky observations.
August 26, 2008: Fermi 1st Light - GLAST has passed its orbital checkout and is being renamed Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in honor of Prof. Enrico Fermi (1901 - 1954), a pioneer in high-energy physics.

Tools and Samples for Radio Associations with Fermi Sources

LAT Bright Source List List of bright LAT sources that have statistical significances of 10 sigma or higher, based on the first three months of survey data.
CRATES/CGRaBS Radio Asociations Tool Find bright, flat-spectrum radio sources associated with a given γ-ray source. LAT-Team contact: Romani

CGRaBS a uniform, all-sky survey of 1625 bright blazars with radio and X-ray properties similar to those of the EGRET blazars. LAT-Team contact: Romani

CRATES an 8.4 GHz surveyof bright, flat-spectrum radio sources with nearly uniform extragalactic coverage for sources brighter than 65 mJy at 4.8 GHz. LAT-Team contact: Romani
MOJAVE 1 Sample The 133 radio-brightest compact extragalactic jets of the northern sky (declination >-20). LAT-Team contact: Kadler

VIPS Sample flat-spectrum AGNs with full polarization and high dynamic range VLBA images at 5 and 15GHz. LAT-Team contact: Taylor

A web-list of 198 AGN and blazars of interest for Fermi and MW analysis. LAT-Team contact: Tosti

Ongoing VLBI Programs during first years of Fermi

MOJAVE Survey 15 GHz monitoring of ~200 strong AGN and some multi-frequency observations. Will also add new strong sources found flaring in gamma-rays by Fermi. LAT-Team contact: Kadler

TANAMI Southern monitoring of blazars and other compact extragalactic jets. Observation sessions take place every 2 months at 8.4GHz and 22GHz. In the first year, 40 sources will be observed every other session. From the second year on, cadences will be adjusted for each individual source. Up to 80 additional sources will be added to the program based on Fermi detections. LAT-Team contacts: Ojha, Kadler

BU Blazar Group. High frequency monitoring of ~20 blazars. A program description is here.

VLBA Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) 5 GHz images and data for 1127 sources taken in 2006 plus some ongoing multi-frequency follow-up. Proposed follow-up on VIPS sources found flaring in gamma-rays by Fermi. LAT-Team contact: Taylor

USNO Radio Reference Frame Image Database 2.4, 8.4, 22 and 43 GHz geodaetic observations of compact extragalactic radio sources. Also some 8.4GHz southern hemisphere Long-Baseline-Array images. LAT-Team contact: Ojha

Cumulative List of Observed Sources with the VLBA. And see also The NRAO Archive which may be more complete.

EVN Archives Catalogue of radio sources observed in VLBI with the EVN radio telescopes

VLBI Programs of the past

VLBA Fringe Finder Survey The 10 strongest sources.

VLBA Calibrator Survey Short 2.4 and 8.4 GHz observations of ~3400 sources and astrometric positions. Includes observations going back many years.

VLBA 2cm Survey 15 GHz VLBA monitoring of ~170 sources - continued as MOJAVE. LAT-Team contact: Kadler

6cm VSOP Pre-launch Survey 5 GHz observations of 374 strong sources taken in June 1996.

Caltech-Jodrell Bank Surveys 5 GHz images and data for ~400 sources

VLA/VLBA Polarization and Flux Monitoring VLA monitoring data from 5-43 GHz and instructions for VLBA polarization calibration. LAT-Team contact: Taylor

VCS (VLBA Calibrator Survey) VLBA observations of >3000 sources.

Radio Monitoring Programs and contacts

UMRAO University of Michigan Radio Observatory. Full polarization long-term monitoring at 5, 8 and 15 GHz of ~50 bright sources.

Ratan 600 monitoring of ~700 sources (mostly flat-spectrum blazars) above 400mJy. A project description is here. One-epoch radio spectral observations of ~3500 sources in progress. LAT-Team contact: Kadler

Metsähovi Monitoring Long-term monitoring of ~100 sources at 22 and 37 GHz, and observations of various source samples at 37 GHz (~700 sources)

OVRO 40m Daily monitoring of ~1000 radio sources at 15 GHz (Caltech group, Readhead et al.). A program description is here. LAT-Team contact: Fuhrmann

FGamma Fermi dedicated Effelsberg/IRAM simultaneous cm/mm flux-density and polarisation monitoring (Eff: 11cm to 7mm; IRAM: 3, 2, 1mm); ~every 3-4 weeks; ~50 bright blazars (MPIfR VLBI group of A. Zensus, Fuhrmann et al.). A project overview is here and a more detailed description is here. LAT-Team contact: Fuhrmann

ATCA Monitoring of the 30 EGRET identified sources south of declination -10deg. Radio spectra over the cm range (up to 7mm) are being conducted every other month. LAT-Team contacts: Ojha, Kadler
SMA Observer Center Submillimeter Calibrator List

VLBI proposal opportunities

VLBA three times annually, at the beginnng of February, June, and October. Observations all year round.

EVN Call for Proposals three times annually, at the beginnng of February, June, and October. Observations scheduled in three block sessions each year.

GMVA Call for Proposals The Global mm-VLBI Array observes at 3mm during two block sessions each year.

Southern Hemisphere VLBI with the LBA. A description of the LBA capabilities is here.

Fermi-NRAO MOU: NRAO is making up to 10% of the observing time at the VLBA, VLA and the GBT available via the GLAST AO1 and Fermi AO2. See here for the details of the MOU.

Radio Community contacts for the Fermi/LAT AGN team (replace " [at] " by "@" for email contacts)

Radio Catalogs and Statistics:

Roger Romani (SLAC); email: rwr [at] astro.stanford.edu

VLBI:

Matthias Kadler (GSFC); email: matthias.kadler [at] sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de; Member of the MOJAVE and TANAMI collaborations
Greg Taylor (UNM); email: gbtaylor [at] unm.edu; PI for VIPS
Roopesh Ojha (USNO); email: rojha [at] usno.navy.mil; PI for TANAMI

Single-dish monitoring:

Lars Fuhrmann (MPIfR); email: lfuhrmann [at] mpifr-bonn.mpg.de

Return to:
LAT “Blazar and other AGN” Science Working Group
Fermi LAT Multiwavelength Coordinating Group
Multiwavelength Activities Related to Fermi's Blazars Confluence Page (Password Protected)
Greg Taylors Site at UNM
Matthias Kadlers Site at Sternwarte Bamberg