The Swift Galactic Plane Survey
Abstract
The Swift Galactic Plane Survey (SGPS) is a 240 square degree survey of the Galactic plane, covering the region |b| < 1 deg and |l| < 60 deg. The survey is designed to obtain 100% overlap with the Spitzer (GLIMPSE/MIPSGAL) and Herschel (HiGal) Galactic plane surveys in the 0.3 -- 10 keV band, crucially including the dust penetrating 2 -- 10 keV hard X-ray band. In addition, we will take advantage of the multi-wavelength capabilities of Swift to obtain simultaneuous ultra-violet (UV) imaging with the UVM2 filter ( 2246 Angstrom), resulting in the first large area survey of the Galactic plane at UV wavelengths. This survey complements the ongoing and completed surveys of the Galactic plane, filling in the crucial high energy region, and will facilitate a truly multi-wavelength study of the Milky Way galaxy.
The survey area is 6 times larger than that previously imaged by ASCA, and the order of magnitude improvement in spatial resolution provided by the Swift X-ray telescope will enable follow-up identification of unique multi-wavelength counterparts. We will discuss the current status of the survey and present preliminary results.- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #12
- Pub Date:
- September 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011HEAD...12.2701R