High resolution H-alpha imaging of the Northern Galactic Plane, and the IGAPS images database

Abstract

The INT Galactic Plane Survey (IGAPS) is the merger of the optical photometric surveys, IPHAS and UVEX, based on data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) obtained between 2003 and 2018. These capture the entire northern Galactic plane within the Galactic coordinate range, -5<b<+5 deg. and 30<l<215 deg. From the beginning, the incorporation of narrowband H-alpha imaging has been a unique and distinctive feature of this effort. Alongside a focused discussion of the nature and application of the H-alpha data, we present the IGAPS world-accessible database of images for all 5 survey filters, i, r, g, U-RGO and narrowband H-alpha, observed on a pixel scale of 0.33 arcsec and at an effective (median) angular resolution of 1.1 to 1.3 arcsec. The background, noise, and sensitivity characteristics of the narrowband H-alpha filter images are outlined. Typical noise levels in this band correspond to a surface brightness at full one-arcsec resolution of around 2e-16 erg/cm2/s/arcsec2. Illustrative applications of the H-alpha data to planetary nebulae and Herbig-Haro objects are outlined and, as part of a discussion of mosaicking technique, we present a very large background-subtracted narrowband mosaic of the supernova remnant, Simeis 147. Finally we lay out a method that exploits the database via an automated selection of bright ionized diffuse interstellar emission targets for the coming generation of wide-field massive-multiplex spectrographs. Two examples of the diffuse H-alpha maps output from this selection process are presented and compared with previously published data.

21 pages, 14 main-text figures, 11 appendix figures. Images database and other supplementary items mentioned in the paper are available from http://www.igapsimages.org

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• SRG/eROSITA discovery of a radio faint X-ray candidate supernova remnant SRGe J003602.3+605421=G121.1-1.9
• Study of X-ray emission from the S147 nebula by SRG/eROSITA: supernova-in-the-cavity scenario
• The infrared counterpart and proper motion of magnetar SGR0501+4516
• Discovery of faint double-peak Halpha emission in the halo of low redshift galaxies
• XGAPS: a sub-arcsecond cross-match of Galactic Plane Surveys
• A persistent bow shock in a diskless magnetised accreting white dwarf