The Radio Ammonia Mid-Plane Survey (RAMPS) Pilot Survey

TL;DR

The RAMPS pilot survey mapped molecular lines in the Galactic midplane using the Green Bank Telescope, providing valuable data on ammonia and water masers across several fields to study star formation regions.

Contribution

This paper presents the first results from RAMPS, a new large-scale molecular line survey of the Galactic midplane, including data on ammonia and water masers with publicly available data products.

Findings

Mapped NH3 and H2O maser emissions in selected Galactic fields

Produced velocity, temperature, and column density maps of ammonia

Provided publicly accessible data cubes for further research

Abstract

The Radio Ammonia Mid-Plane Survey (RAMPS) is a molecular line survey that aims to map a portion of the Galactic midplane in the first quadrant of the Galaxy (l = 10 deg - 40 deg, |b| < 0.4 deg) using the Green Bank Telescope. We present results from the pilot survey, which has mapped approximately 6.5 square degrees in fields centered at l = 10 deg, 23 deg, 24 deg, 28 deg, 29 deg, 30 deg, 31 deg, 38 deg, 45 deg, and 47 deg. RAMPS observes the NH3 inversion transitions NH3(1, 1) - (5, 5), the H2O 6(1,6) - 5(2,3) maser line at 22.235 GHz, and several other molecular lines. We present a representative portion of the data from the pilot survey, including NH3(1,1) and NH3(2,2) integrated intensity maps, H2O maser positions, maps of NH3 velocity, NH3 line width, total NH3 column density, and NH3 rotational temperature. These data and the data cubes from which they were produced are publicly available on the RAMPS website (http://sites.bu.edu/ramps/).