VLA imaging of the XMM-LSS/VIDEO deep field

Realizing the potential of radio as a tracer of star formation and black hole activity over cosmic time involves achieving such depths over representative volumes, with radio forming part of a larger multiwavelength campaign. In pursuit of this, we used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to image ~5deg^2^ of the VIDEO/XMM-LSS extragalactic deep field at 1-2GHz.

We achieve a median depth of 16uJy/beam with an angular resolution of 4.5arcsec. Comparisons with existing radio observations of XMM-LSS showcase the improved survey speed of the upgraded VLA: we cover 2.5 times the area and increase the depth by ~20 per cent in 40 per cent of the time. Direction-dependent calibration and wide-field imaging were required to suppress the error patterns from off-axis sources of even modest brightness.