The XXL Survey: XXIX. GMRT 610 MHz continuum observations

Abstract

We present the 25 square-degree GMRT-XXL-N 610 MHz radio continuum survey, conducted at 50~cm wavelength with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) towards the XXL Northern field (XXL-N). We combined previously published observations of the XMM-Large Scale Structure (XMM-LSS) field, located in the central part of XXL-N, with newly conducted observations towards the remaining XXL-N area, and imaged the combined data-set using the Source Peeling and Atmospheric Modeling ({\sc SPAM}) pipeline. The final mosaic encompasses a total area of $30.4$ square degrees, with ${\rm rms}<150~\mu$Jy/beam over 60\% of the area. The ${\rm rms}$ achieved in the inner 9.6 square degree area, enclosing the XMM-LSS field, is about $200~\mu$Jy/beam, while that over the outer 12.66 square degree area (which excludes the noisy edges) is about $45~\mu$Jy/beam. The resolution of the final mosaic is 6.5 arcsec. We present a catalogue of 5\,434 sources detected at $\geq7\times {\rm rms}$. We verify, and correct the reliability of, the catalog in terms of astrometry, flux, and false detection rate. Making use of the (to date) deepest radio continuum survey over a relatively large (2 square degree) field, complete at the flux levels probed by the GMRT-XXL-N survey, we also assess the survey's incompleteness as a function of flux density. The radio continuum sensitivity reached over a large field with a wealth of multi-wavelength data available makes the GMRT-XXL-N 610 MHz survey an important asset for studying the physical properties, environments and cosmic evolution of radio sources, in particular radio-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN).