SWAS FAQ
Q. How good are the signal-free reference positions used when position or
beam switching?
The reduced SWAS spectra give the difference between an on-source position and a
signal-free reference. The reference positions were checked for 12CO
line emission using FCRAO observations and literature data. Although we
carefully checked the reference positions for emission, we cannot exclude the
possibility that some of these reference positions suffer from occasional
low-level contamination. However, this contamination is found for only for a few
sources and is obvious only in the co-added data of deeply integrated [CI]
observations. As the [CI] spectra are observed simultaneously with the
H2O, O2, and 13CO 5-4 transitions, the long
integration times used in the search for 02 and H2O
emission have resulted in deeply integrated [CI] spectra.