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Summary

The FIRST project will produce a radio image of the sky with 20 times the sensitivity and 10 times the angular resolution of the best centimetric surveys now available. If history provides any guide, many new, unforeseen discoveries will emerge both from an analysis of the radio sources themselves and through comparison with catalogs and sky maps in other spectral regimes. Our proposal, accepted by the NRAO, that there be no proprietary period for the survey data, is designed to maximize the scientific return of the project by making the raw data, calibrated UV data, survey images, and source lists avaliable to the community as soon as they are produced. We encourage the widest possible use of the FIRST Survey data products and welcome suggestions from the community concerning their production and distribution.

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rlw@stsci.edu