Introducing the MDW Sky Survey

The MDW Sky Survey is an autonomous Hα sky-mapping survey project that utilizes two custom-modified Astro-Physics 130mm Starfire GTX refractors located at the New Mexico Skies Observatory outside of Mayhill, NM. The survey plans to cover a total of 4100 fields with a size of 3.6 x 3.6 degrees. As of mid-October 2022 the completed fields number 2819. Each completed field is a mean combination of twelve 20-minute exposures recorded through a 3nm Hα filter. Astrometric and photometric refinements are currently being performed to prepare the survey data for a broad range of scientific and educational uses. These images will be of use for studying myriad sources of ionized gas in the Milky Way, including but not limited to; star forming regions, supernova remnants, nebulae, other nebular regions, and Hα-emitting point sources. We will present a selection of images and overview of survey performance. Funding for this project was made possible by a generous donation from the Mittelman family.