The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey VII: Spectra and Polarisation In Cutouts of Extragalactic Sources (SPICE-RACS) Second Data Release – Unveiling the Magnetised Sky

Abstract We present the second data release (DR2) of Spectra and Polarisation in Cutouts of Extragalactic sources from RACS (SPICE-RACS). SPICERACS DR2 is derived from the third low-band epoch of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS-low3) and covers the entire sky from the South celestial pole up to a declination of +49°; approximately 87.5% of the celestial sphere. We produce ‘cutout’ spectral cubes in Stokes I , Q , U around 4 million radio sources and extract spectra towards 5 million radio components. Across our observed band of 799.5 to 1087.5MHz we find an rms noise of ∼ 200 μJy/PSF, an angular resolution of ∼ 15″, and residual wide-field instrumental polarisation on the order of 0.1 %. After de-duplication, our polarisation catalogue contains the detection of 2.5×10 5 (3.4×10 5 ) Faraday rotation measures (RM) for components with a linearly polarised signal above 8σ (6σ). This places SPICE-RACS DR2 as the largest single RM catalogue ever produced by nearly an order of magnitude; the number of RMs in our catalogue alone is ∼ 5 times larger than every previous RM catalogue combined. Our resulting RM grid has an areal density of , providing an effective ‘resolution’ of ∼ 23′, and reveals striking features across the sky. The broad-band RMs have a median uncertainty of ∼2 radm −2 , and include complexity metrics and information from the time domain. The breadth and quality of the SPICE-RACS DR2 dataset will enable a new generation of RM science. Further, SPICE-RACS will provide an ideal reference for forthcoming deep polarisation surveys such as the ASKAP POSSUM survey. All of our data products are publicly available on the CSIRO Data Access Portal (DAP) and the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA).

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Journal
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Published
2026-06-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2026.10214
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
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article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.60
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article

The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey VII: Spectra and Polarisation In Cutouts of Extragalactic Sources (SPICE-RACS) Second Data Release – Unveiling the Magnetised Sky

E. Osinga, S. W. Duchesne, Cameron L. Van Eck, Takuya Akahori et al.
1 citations
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
10.60
article

The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey VII: Spectra and Polarisation In Cutouts of Extragalactic Sources (SPICE-RACS) Second Data Release – Unveiling the Magnetised Sky

E. Osinga, S. W. Duchesne, Cameron L. Van Eck, Takuya Akahori, A. J. M. Thomson, G. Heald, Sunil Malik, B. M. Gaensler, Sebastian Hutschenreuter, Vanessa A. Moss, C. S. Anderson, S. P. O’Sullivan, Jennifer West, Timothy J. Galvin, E. Lenc, Lerato Baidoo, N M McClure-Griffiths, Ondrej Hlinka, J P Leahy, Y. K. Ma, L. Rudnick
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract We present the second data release (DR2) of Spectra and Polarisation in Cutouts of Extragalactic sources from RACS (SPICE-RACS). SPICERACS DR2 is derived from the third low-band epoch of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS-low3) and covers the entire sky from the South celestial pole up to a declination of +49°; approximately 87.5% of the celestial sphere. We produce ‘cutout’ spectral cubes in Stokes I , Q , U around 4 million radio sources and extract spectra towards 5 million radio components. Across our observed band of 799.5 to 1087.5MHz we find an rms noise of ∼ 200 μJy/PSF, an angular resolution of ∼ 15″, and residual wide-field instrumental polarisation on the order of 0.1 %. After de-duplication, our polarisation catalogue contains the detection of 2.5×10 5 (3.4×10 5 ) Faraday rotation measures (RM) for components with a linearly polarised signal above 8σ (6σ). This places SPICE-RACS DR2 as the largest single RM catalogue ever produced by nearly an order of magnitude; the number of RMs in our catalogue alone is ∼ 5 times larger than every previous RM catalogue combined. Our resulting RM grid has an areal density of , providing an effective ‘resolution’ of ∼ 23′, and reveals striking features across the sky. The broad-band RMs have a median uncertainty of ∼2 radm −2 , and include complexity metrics and information from the time domain. The breadth and quality of the SPICE-RACS DR2 dataset will enable a new generation of RM science. Further, SPICE-RACS will provide an ideal reference for forthcoming deep polarisation surveys such as the ASKAP POSSUM survey. All of our data products are publicly available on the CSIRO Data Access Portal (DAP) and the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA).

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Australian National University (AU), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU), The University of Sydney (AU), University of Vienna (AT), University of Minnesota (US), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Toronto (CA), Curtin University (AU), University of Manchester (GB), SKA Observatory (GB), National Observatory (BR), Astronomy and Space (AU), Astronomical Observatory (RS), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE), National Research Council Canada (CA), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP)
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
10.60
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