An Absolute Flux Density Measurement of the Supernova Remnant Casseopia A at 32 GHz

Abstract

We report 32 GHz absolute flux density measurements of the supernova remnant Cas A, with an accuracy of 2.5%. The measurements were made with the 1.5-meter telescope at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. The antenna gain had been measured by NIST in May 1990 to be $0.505 \pm 0.007 \frac{\rm mK}{\rm Jy}$. Our observations of Cas A in May 1998 yield $S_{cas,1998} = 194 \pm 5 {\rm Jy}$. We also report absolute flux density measurements of 3C48, 3C147, 3C286, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

30 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication by AJ. Revised systematic error budget, corrected typos, and added references