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Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, astro-ph.HE, Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, astro-ph.IM
Abstract:
Galactic plane radio surveys play a key role in improving our understanding
of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. Performing such a survey using the
latest interferometric telescopes produces large data rates necessitating a
shift towards fully or quasi-real-time data analysis with data being stored for
only the time required to process them. We present here the overview and setup
for the 3000 hour Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie (MPIfR) MeerKAT
Galactic Plane survey (MMGPS). The survey is unique by operating in a commensal
mode, addressing key science objectives of the survey including the discovery
of new pulsars and transients as well as studies of Galactic magnetism, the
interstellar medium and star formation rates. We explain the strategy coupled
with the necessary hardware and software infrastructure needed for data
reduction in the imaging, spectral and time domains. We have so far discovered
78 new pulsars including 17 confirmed binary systems of which two are potential
double neutron star systems. We have also developed an imaging pipeline
sensitive to the order of a few tens of micro-Jansky with a spatial resolution
of a few arcseconds. Further science operations with an in-house built S-Band
receiver operating between 1.7-3.5 GHz are about to commence. Early spectral
line commissioning observations conducted at S-Band, targeting transitions of
the key molecular gas tracer CH at 3.3 GHz already illustrate the spectroscopic
capabilities of this instrument. These results lay a strong foundation for
future surveys with telescopes like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
