The Galactic All Sky Survey (GASS) is a survey of the Galactic atomic hydrogen (HI) emission over the entire sky south of declination zero. When complete, the survey, which is being conducted with the Parkes 64m Radio Telescope, will be the highest resolution and most sensitive survey of Galactic hydrogen conducted to date. One of the goals of GASS is to study the orign, nature and distribution of high and intermediate velocity clouds surrounding the Milky Way. GASS, because of its spatial and spectral resolution will excel in this pursuit. This project will involve close collaborations with D.J. Pisano (NRAO-Green Bank) and T. Murphy (U of Sydney).
The Southern Galactic Plane Survey is a survey the neutral hydrogen (HI) component of the plane of our Galaxy. Using the Parkes 64m Radio Telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) we have produced an atlas of H I in the fourth quadrant of the Galactic plane with sensitivity to spatial scales larger than 1 arcminute. We have recently completed an expansion of the survey, covering a large area around the around the Galactic Centre. The Galactic Centre region has extreme dynamics and a variety of interesting structures created by the rich environment of many H II regions and supernova remnants. The dynamics of the H I probe the Galactic bar, the "expanding arm", and the molecular ring. However, the interrelation of these structures is poorly understood. By comparing H I data from the SGPS, with new CO data on the molecular ring from the Boston University Galactic Ring Survey and infrared data from the Spitzer GLIMPSE survey with careful models of the gas dynamics we may be able to understand how the innermost 3 kpc of our Galaxy is structured.
There are approximately 80 catalogued SNRs in the Southern Galactic Plane Survey region, of which only 20 have previously determined distances. Without distances to, and therefore radii of, these remnants it is difficult to study their evolution, impact on the interstellar medium and distribution within the Galaxy. One method for determining distances to these objects is to use H I absorption spectra to derive kinematic distances. The Southern Galactic Plane Survey, and its northern counterparts, the Canadian and VLA Galactic Plane Surveys provide excellent databases for determining and reconfirming distances to most Galactic SNRs. We would aim to compile an extensive catalog of SNR distances with which to proceed on studies of these interesting structures.
last updated 15-Oct-2004