The SARAO MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey
Abstract
We present the SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS), a 1.3 GHz continuum survey of almost half of the Galactic Plane (251\deg 358\deg and 2\deg 61\deg at ). SMGPS is the largest, most sensitive and highest angular resolution 1 GHz survey of the Plane yet carried out, with an angular resolution of 8" and a broadband RMS sensitivity of 10--20 Jy/beam. Here we describe the first publicly available data release from SMGPS which comprises data cubes of frequency-resolved images over 908--1656 MHz, power law fits to the images, and broadband zeroth moment integrated intensity images. A thorough assessment of the data quality and guidance for future usage of the data products are given. Finally, we discuss the tremendous potential of SMGPS by showcasing highlights of the Galactic and extragalactic science that it permits. These highlights include the discovery of a new population of non-thermal radio filaments; identification of new candidate supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and planetary nebulae; improved radio/mid-IR classification of rare Luminous Blue Variables and discovery of associated extended radio nebulae; new radio stars identified by Bayesian cross-matching techniques; the realisation that many of the largest radio-quiet WISE HII region candidates are not true HII regions; and a large sample of previously undiscovered background HI galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2312.07275,
title = {The SARAO MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey},
author = {S. Goedhart and W. D. Cotton and F. Camilo and M. A. Thompson and G. Umana and M. Bietenholz and P. A. Woudt and L. D. Anderson and C. Bordiu and D. A. H. Buckley and C. S. Buemi and F. Bufano and F. Cavallaro and H. Chen and J. O. Chibueze and D. Egbo and B. S. Frank and M. G. Hoare and A. Ingallinera and T. Irabor and R. C. Kraan-Korteweg and S. Kurapati and P. Leto and S. Loru and M. Mutale and W. O. Obonyo and A. Plavin and S. H. A. Rajohnson and A. Rigby and S. Riggi and M. Seidu and P. Serra and B. M. Smart and B. W. Stappers and N. Steyn and M. Surnis and C. Trigilio and G. M. Williams and T. D. Abbott and R. M. Adam and K. M. B. Asad and T. Baloyi and E. F. Bauermeister and T. G. H. Bennet and H. Bester and A. G. Botha and L. R. S. Brederode and S. Buchner and J. P. Burger and T. Cheetham and K. Cloete and M. S. de Villiers and D. I. L. de Villiers and L. J. du Toit and S. W. P. Esterhuyse and B. L. Fanaroff and D. J. Fourie and R. R. G. Gamatham and T. G. Gatsi and M. Geyer and M. Gouws and S. C. Gumede and I. Heywood and A. Hokwana and S. W. Hoosen and D. M. Horn and L. M. G. Horrell and B. V. Hugo and A. I. Isaacson and G. I. G. Józsa and J. L. Jonas and J. D. B. L. Jordaan and A. F. Joubert and R. P. M. Julie and F. B. Kapp and N. Kriek and H. Kriel and V. K. Krishnan and T. W. Kusel and L. S. Legodi and R. Lehmensiek and R. T. Lord and P. S. Macfarlane and L. G. Magnus and C. Magozore and J. P. L. Main and J. A. Malan and J. R. Manley and S. J. Marais and M. D. J. Maree and A. Martens and P. Maruping and K. McAlpine and B. C. Merry and M. Mgodeli and R. P. Millenaar and O. J. Mokone and T. E. Monama and W. S. New and B. Ngcebetsha and K. J. Ngoasheng and G. D. Nicolson and M. T. Ockards and N. Oozeer and S. S. Passmoor and A. A. Patel and A. Peens-Hough and S. J. Perkins and A. J. T. Ramaila and S. M. Ratcliffe and R. Renil and L. L. Richter and S. Salie and N. Sambu and C. T. G. Schollar and L. C. Schwardt and R. L. Schwartz and M. Serylak and R. Siebrits and S. K. Sirothia and M. J. Slabber and O. M. Smirnov and A. J. Tiplady and T. J. van Balla and A. van der Byl and V. Van Tonder and A. J. Venter and M. Venter and M. G. Welz and L. P. Williams},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.07275},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in MNRAS. The data release is live and links can be found in the Data Availability Statement in the paper