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MeerGAL: the MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey

Thompson, M.A., Goedhart, S., Benaglia, P., Beuther, H., Blomme, R., Chrysostomou, A.C., Clark, J.S., Dickinson, C., Ellingsen, S., Fenech, D., and others. (2018) MeerGAL: the MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey. In: Proceedings of MeerKAT Science: On the Pathway to the SKA. . POS (doi:10.22323/1.277.0015) (KAR id:69531)

Abstract

Radio surveys of the Milky Way galaxy have transformed our understanding of star formation

and stellar evolution. However, due to strong dependence of “survey cost” on frequency most

large area surveys have so far been carried out at low frequencies (? a few GHz). These surveys

select against dense plasma as the free-free turnover frequency scales directly with electron

density which means that there are significant biases against the detection of the youngest and

densest HII regions, Young Stellar Objects, jets, winds and Planetary Nebulae. Here we describe

the MeerKAT Large Project MeerGAL, which aims to address this issue by making the first sensitive

high frequency, high resolution multi-epoch survey of the Galactic Plane. Together with

its Northern Hemisphere sister project KuGARS (the Ku-band Galactic Reconnaissance Survey),

MeerGAL will revolutionise the study of massive star formation and stellar evolution, Galactic

structure, and variability.

Item Type: Conference or workshop item (Proceeding)
DOI/Identification number: 10.22323/1.277.0015
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: James Urquhart
Date Deposited: 11 Oct 2018 13:31 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Dec 2022 05:35 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/69531 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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