The 6C** sample of steep-spectrum radio sources: I - Radio data, near-infrared imaging and optical spectroscopy

Journal article

We present basic observational data on the 6C** sample. This is a new sample of radio sources drawn from the 151 MHz 6C survey, which was filtered with radio criteria chosen to optimize the chances of finding radio galaxies at z > 4. The filtering criteria are a steep-spectral index and a small angular size. The final sample consists of 68 sources from a region of sky covering 0.421 sr. We present VLA radio maps, and the results of K-band imaging and optical spectroscopy. Near-infrared counterparts are identified for 66 of the 68 sources, down to a 3-sigma limiting magnitude of K ~ 22 mag in a 3-arcsec aperture. Eight of these identifications are spatially compact, implying an unresolved nuclear source. The K-magnitude distribution peaks at a median K=18.7 mag, and is found to be statistically indistinguishable from that of the similarly selected 6C* sample, implying that the redshift distribution could extend to z > 4. Redshifts determined from spectroscopy are available for 22 (32 per cent) of the sources, over the range of 0.2 < z < 3.3 . We measure 15 of these, whereas the other 7 were previously known. Six sources are at z > 2.5. Four sources show broad emission lines in their spectra and are classified as quasars. Three of these show also an unresolved K-band identification. Eleven sources fail to show any distinctive emission and/or absorption features in their spectra. We suggest that these could be (i) in the so-called `redshift desert' region of 1.2 < z < 1.8, or (ii) at a greater redshift, but feature weak emission line spectra.

Authors: Cruz, M; Jarvis, M; Blundell, K; Rawlings, S; Croft, S

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.373:1531-1562,2006
• Volume: 373
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1531-1562
• Publication date: 2006-09-28
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11101.x
• EISSN: 1365-2966
• ISSN: 0035-8711
• Language: English
• Keywords: astro-ph