Most of the galaxy has been explored and prodded by researchers. However, one elusive strip of the night sky has been left relatively untouched. The Zone of Avoidance (ZOA) is the formal name given to that area of the sky, which inconveniently lies behind the dense structure of the Milky Way. Because of the high density of stellar and dust content in the Milky Way, surveys in short wavelengths such as visible and gamma ray have failed in penetrating this layer and seeing beyond the Milky Way. Fortunately, much of the Milky Way disappears in longer wavelengths, i.e. the infrared and radio wavelengths. As a result, numerous studies are now being undertaken in these wavelengths to peer beyond the Milky Way. Henning and Donley et al (2000 & 2006 rspv.) have done such blind surveys of the ZOA in the infrared and mid-infrared bands.
| Lamarr
L. Parsons llp4 at cornell dot edu Cornell University |
A Mid-Infrared Search for Galaxies in
the
"Zone of Avoidance" |
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GLIMPSE was fully sampled and performed its observations with a spatial resolution of ~2” with wavelengths centered on 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0µm, over a range 10º to 70º on both sides of the Galactic center and in the Galactic Longitude ± 1 (Galactic Longitude and Latitude rspv.). This section of the night sky containes approximately 70% of the molecular gas in the Milky Way and most of its star forming regions.
GLIMPSE 3-D is a natural extension of
the GLIMPSE survey. This newer survey covered up to |b| <
3º-4º
in selected longitudes ranges still in the Galactic Plane. The goal
of the GLIMPSE-3D project is to explore the three-dimensional
properties of the Galaxy. This survey has enabled researchers to
study the vertical structure of the Galaxy, studies of Galactic
fountains/flows in the inner Galaxy. However, we are interested in
this project for how minimally it is affected by extinction. This
property allows us to search for objects, in particular galaxies,
hidden by the Galactic Plane and probably undiscovered. The three
images I searched were centered at 335 longitude and 330 degrees
longitude. Indicated in the picture below.