GASKAP -- The Galactic ASKAP Survey

TL;DR

GASKAP is a comprehensive radio survey of the Milky Way and Magellanic System using ASKAP, providing high-resolution data on atomic and molecular gas to advance understanding of galaxy evolution and interstellar medium processes.

Contribution

It introduces a large-scale, high-resolution survey of the Milky Way and Magellanic System at multiple wavelengths, offering unprecedented data for various astrophysical studies.

Findings

High sensitivity and resolution data on HI and OH lines.

Extensive coverage of the Galactic plane and Magellanic System.

Potential to significantly impact studies of galaxy evolution and interstellar medium.

Abstract

A survey of the Milky Way disk and the Magellanic System at the wavelengths of the 21-cm atomic hydrogen (HI) line and three 18-cm lines of the OH molecule will be carried out with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. The survey will study the distribution of HI emission and absorption with unprecedented angular and velocity resolution, as well as molecular line thermal emission, absorption, and maser lines. The area to be covered includes the Galactic plane (|b|< 10deg) at all declinations south of delta = +40deg, spanning longitudes 167deg through 360deg to 79deg at b=0deg, plus the entire area of the Magellanic Stream and Clouds, a total of 13,020 square degrees. The brightness temperature sensitivity will be very good, typically sigma_T ~ 1 K at resolution 30arcsec and 1 km/s. The survey has a wide spectrum of scientific goals, from studies of galaxy evolution to star formation, with particular contributions to understanding stellar wind kinematics, the thermal phases of the interstellar medium, the interaction between gas in the disk and halo, and the dynamical and thermal states of gas at various positions along the Magellanic Stream.