Collaborative Research: MAGPIS: A Multi-Array Galactic Plane Imaging Survey

在甚大阵列建成20周年之际，在厘米波长上对银道面进行的最佳观测是5-10角分分辨率的20厘米和11厘米的Effelsberg观测。两年前，David Helfand博士和Robert Becker博士开始了一个项目，利用MAGPIS（多阵列银河平面成像调查）将银河系图像的分辨率和灵敏度提高两个数量级。他们刚刚完成了从经度l = 5到l = 32的平面成像，分辨率为5弧秒，动态范围为1000:1，点源灵敏度为1 mJy。这些图像可在网站http://third.ucllnl.org/gps上公开获得，并将在各种各样的应用中找到用途，从与正在进行的斯皮策平面调查一起构建银河系恒星形成的完整普查，到发现银河系中最年轻的超新星遗迹，再到计算合并中子星的LIGO信号的预期速率。哥伦比亚大学的Helfand博士和加州大学戴维斯分校的Robert Becker博士将获得这一合作项目奖，用于继续绘制这幅银河平面的最终图像，并支持其公开发布，同时将调查结果用于各种科学项目中，现在由于通过无线电、中红外和x射线波长对银河系的新看法而成为可能。在这个项目中创建的数据产品都是公开的，并将在未来几十年里用于银河系的研究。为访问这些数据而创建的工具也可能具有广泛的适用性。该项目还将提供许多将研究生和本科教育与研究工作相结合的机会。迄今为止，这些研究人员已经建议了超过19位物理学家和天文学家博士，还有更多的人将参与这个项目。最近八名博士中有六名是女性，我们将继续努力解决我们学科中女性和少数民族代表性不足的问题。＊＊＊

AST 0507663BeckerOn the 20th anniversary of the Very Large Array, the best available survey of the Galactic Plane at centimeter wavelengths were the 5-10-arcminute resolution Effelsberg surveys at 20 and 11 cm. Two years ago, Drs David Helfand and Robert Becker began a program to improve the resolution and sensitivity of the image of the Galaxy by two orders of magnitude with MAGPIS, the Multi-Array Galactic Plane Imaging Survey. They have just completed imaging the Plane from longitude l = 5 to l = 32 with a resolution of 5 arcseconds, a dynamic range of 1000:1, and a point-source sensitivity of " 1 mJy. These images are publicly available at the website http://third.ucllnl.org/gps, and will find use in a wide variety of applications ranging from the construction of a complete census of the Galaxy's star formation in conjunction with the ongoing Spitzer Plane surveys, to the discovery of the youngest supernova remnants in the Galaxy, to calculation of the expected rate of LIGO signals from merging neutron stars. This collaborative project award for Dr. Helfand at Columbia University and Dr. Robert Becker at the University of California at Davis will be used to continue the creation of this definitive image of the Galactic Plane and to support its public distribution, as well as to use the survey results in a variety of science programs now becoming possible as a consequence of new views through the Galaxy at radio, mid-IR, and X-ray wavelengths.The data products created in this project are all publicly available, and will find use in Galactic studies for decades to come. The tools created for accessing these data may well also find wide applicability. The project will also provide many opportunities for integrating graduate and undergraduate education with the research effort. These researchers have advised to date more than nineteen PhD physicists and astronomers, and several more will become involved with this project. Six of the last eight PhDs are women, and there will be a continuing effort to focus on redressing the under-representation of women and minorities in our discipline. ***