6 Centimeter Radio Source Counts and Spectral Index Studies Down to 0.1 Millijansky

The authors present the results of a deep VLA survey at 6 cm in the Lynx.2 area of the Leiden Berkeley Deep Survey. This area was surveyed previously with the VLA at 21 cm as reported by Windhorst et al. in 1985. The survey sensitivities are ≡15 and 28 μJy, at 6 and 21 cm, respectively. In the three 6 cm fields, chosen within the 21 cm survey area, 58 radio sources were found. Deep optical identifications and photometry of these sources are derived. They are based on four-band (UJFN) Kitt peak 4 m plates. Available spectroscopic redshifts are also listed. The authors then present and analyze the spectral index distributions as a function of flux density and optical identification class.