New catalogs of compact radio sources in the Galactic plane

Archival data have been combined with recent observations of the Galactic plane using the Very Large Array to create new catalogs of compact centimetric radio sources. The 20 cm source catalog covers a longitude range of - 20 degrees < l < 120 degrees; the latitude coverage varies from +/- 0.degrees 8 to +/- 2.degrees 7. The total survey area is similar to 331 deg(2); coverage is 90% complete at a flux density threshold of similar to 14 mJy, and over 5000 sources are recorded. The 6 cm catalog covers 43 deg(2) in the region - 10 degrees < l < 42 degrees, \b\ < 0.degrees 4 to a 90% completeness threshold of 2.9 mJy; over 2700 sources are found. Both surveys have an angular resolution of similar to 6 ''. These catalogs provide a 30% (at 20 cm) to 50% (at 6 cm) increase in the number of high-reliability compact sources in the Galactic plane, as well as greatly improved astrometry, uniformity, and reliability; they should prove useful for comparison with new mid- and far-infrared surveys of the Milky Way.