MILLIARCSECOND POLARIZATION STRUCTURE OF 24 OBJECTS FROM THE PEARSON-READHEAD SAMPLE OF BRIGHT EXTRAGALACTIC RADIO-SOURCES .1. THE IMAGES

This paper presents the first survey of the milliarcsecond-scale linear polarization properties of compact extragalactic radio sources. Global VLBI observations in total intensity and linear polarization at a frequency of 5 GHz (lambda6 cm) of 24 sources from the Pearson-Readhead complete sample are presented. We have observed 12 quasars, eight BL Lacertae objects, and four galaxies, constituting about half of the Pearson-Readhead list. We show total intensity and polarization images of all 16 sources in which we detected significant polarized flux on milliarcsecond scales, and total intensity images of two additional sources. The properties of the individual sources are discussed at some length. A detailed analysis of the sample is given in an accompanying paper.