The MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) Survey

TL;DR

The MIGHTEE survey uses MeerKAT to study extragalactic fields across multiple wavelengths, aiming to understand galaxy evolution, neutral hydrogen history, and cosmic magnetic fields, serving as a precursor to SKA cosmology studies.

Contribution

This paper introduces the MIGHTEE survey, a comprehensive radio survey of four deep extragalactic fields, providing valuable data for galaxy evolution and cosmology research.

Findings

Survey will cover 20 square degrees at μJy sensitivity.

Provides multi-wavelength data including radio continuum, spectral line, and polarisation.

Serves as a pilot for SKA cosmology experiments.

Abstract

The MIGHTEE large survey project will survey four of the most well-studied extragalactic deep fields, totalling 20 square degrees to $\mu$Jy sensitivity at Giga-Hertz frequencies, as well as an ultra-deep image of a single ~1 square degree MeerKAT pointing. The observations will provide radio continuum, spectral line and polarisation information. As such, MIGHTEE, along with the excellent multi-wavelength data already available in these deep fields, will allow a range of science to be achieved. Specifically, MIGHTEE is designed to significantly enhance our understanding of, (i) the evolution of AGN and star-formation activity over cosmic time, as a function of stellar mass and environment, free of dust obscuration; (ii) the evolution of neutral hydrogen in the Universe and how this neutral gas eventually turns into stars after moving through the molecular phase, and how efficiently this can fuel AGN activity; (iii) the properties of cosmic magnetic fields and how they evolve in clusters, filaments and galaxies. MIGHTEE will reach similar depth to the planned SKA all-sky survey, and thus will provide a pilot to the cosmology experiments that will be carried out by the SKA over a much larger survey volume.