Duchesne et al. present a new data release from the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS), a widefield snapshot radio survey conducted with the Australian SKA Pathfinder. This data release contains the second RACS epoch to make use of ASKAP’s low-frequency band, centred on 887.5 MHz with a bandwidth of 288 MHz, referred to as RACS-low2. This RACS-low2 data release includes both Stokes I (total intensity) and V (circular polarisation) imaging and catalogue data products covering the whole sky up to a declination of +48 degrees. The consolidated Stokes I catalogue contains 3,922,151 sources and a catalogue of Stokes V sources was constructed by measuring Stokes V images at the Stokes I source positions. For the 221 Stokes V measurements above the estimated leakage and detection thresholds likely identifications are provided, including detections of 61 radio stars, 85 pulsars, 43 AGN (many likely to be residual leakage), and one source that is not associated with a known astronomical object.  These data products, including calibrated visibilities, images, source lists, and consolidated catalogues, are made publicly available through the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA).

The image above shows cutouts showcasing two radio stars: BD+44 2051 (top), and Beta Aquilae (bottom). The left panels show the Stokes V (circular polarisation) image; the centre panels show the Stokes I (total intensity) image; and the right panels show the DSS2 infrared image. On each panel, the dashed circle is drawn at five times the FWHM (full width at half maxiumum) of the major axis of the PSF for the given radio image, and the crosshairs point to the RACS-low2 Stokes I source position. The ellipses in the bottom left corner of the Stokes V and Stokes I images show the PSF size. The infrared images show the detected stars, though for BD+44 2051 there is an offset from the radio positions due to the proper motion of the star between the infrared and radio observations.