The 1.28 GHz MeerKAT Galactic Center Mosaic

Abstract

The inner $\sim$200 pc region of the Galaxy contains a 4 million M${}_{\odot }$ supermassive black hole (SMBH), significant quantities of molecular gas, and star formation and cosmic ray energy densities that are roughly two orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding levels in the Galactic disk. At a distance of only 8.2 kpc, the region presents astronomers with a unique opportunity to study a diverse range of energetic astrophysical phenomena, from stellar objects in extreme environments, to the SMBH and star-formation driven feedback processes that are known to influence the evolution of galaxies as a whole. We present a new survey of the Galactic center conducted with the South African MeerKAT radio telescope. Radio imaging offers a view that is unaffected by the large quantities of dust that obscure the region at other wavelengths, and a scene of striking complexity is revealed. We produce total intensity and spectral index mosaics of the region from 20 pointings (144 hours on-target in total), covering 6.5 square degrees with an angular resolution of 4$"$,at a central frequency of 1.28 GHz. Many new features are revealed for the first time due to a combination of MeerKAT's high sensitivity, exceptional $u,v$-plane coverage, and geographical vantage point. We highlight some initial survey results, including new supernova remnant candidates, many new non-thermal filament complexes, and enhanced views of the Radio Arc Bubble, Sgr A and Sgr B regions. This project is a SARAO public legacy survey, and the image products are made available with this article.

29 pages, 15 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in the The Astrophysical Journal. Replacement arXiv version with higher quality figures

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Cited by in corpus (60)

• The MPIfR-MeerKAT Galactic Plane survey I -- System setup and early results
• Low energy cosmic rays
• Statistical Properties of the Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: The Spectral Index and Equipartition Magnetic Field
• The Galactic Center as a laboratory for theories of gravity and dark matter
• A candle in the wind: a radio filament in the core of the A3562 galaxy cluster
• Magnetic field morphology and evolution in the Central Molecular Zone and its effect on gas dynamics
• SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-InfraRed Polarimetric Large Area CMZ Exploration (FIREPLACE) Survey I: General Results from the Pilot Program
• MeerKAT view of the Dancing Ghosts -- Peculiar Galaxy Pair PKS 2130-538 in Abell 3785
• SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-Infrared Polarimetric Large-Area CMZ Exploration (FIREPLACE) Survey III: Full Survey Data Set
• Three-Dimensional Structure of the Central Molecular Zone
• The Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: Position Angle Distribution Reveal a Degree-scale Collimated Outflow from Sgr A* along the Galactic Plane
• MIGHTEE-HI: deep spectral line observations of the COSMOS field
• Rotation measure variations in Galactic Centre pulsars
• Populations of Magnetized Filaments in the Intracluster Medium and the Galactic Center
• Statistical Properties of the Population of the Galactic Center Filaments II: The Spacing Between Filaments
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• A CO Funnel in the Galactic Centre: Molecular Counterpart of the Northern Galactic Chimney?
• Effects of Magnetic Fields on Gas Dynamics and Star Formation in Nuclear Rings
• The population of Galactic centre filaments III: candidate radio and stellar sources
• HI Galaxy Signatures in the SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey -- II. The Local Void and its substructure
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• Cosmic rays cannot explain the high ionisation rates in the Galactic centre
• Identifying jittering-jet-shaped ejecta in the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant
• NE2025: An Updated Electron Density Model for the Galactic Interstellar Medium
• Impact of anisotropic cosmic-ray transport on the gamma-ray signatures in the Galactic Center
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• The SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey extended source catalogue
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• The JWST-NIRCam View of Sagittarius C. II. Evidence for Magnetically Dominated HII Regions in the CMZ
• Modeling the Galactic center gamma-ray emission with more realistic cosmic-ray dynamics
• Spectroscopic Imaging of the Sun with MeerKAT: Opening a New Frontier in Solar Physics
• Discovery of a filamentary synchrotron structure connected to the coherent magnetic field in the outer Galaxy
• Einstein@Home Searches for Gamma-ray Pulsars in the Inner Galaxy
• SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-Infrared Polarimetric Large Area CMZ Exploration Survey. V. The Magnetic Field Strength and Morphology in the Sagittarius C Complex
• The Curious Case of the "Heartworm" Nebula
• ALMA observations of massive clouds in the central molecular zone: slim filaments tracing parsec-scale shocks
• Image plane detection of FRB121102 with the MeerKAT radio telescope
• Search for the Galactic accelerators of Cosmic-Rays up to the Knee with the Pevatron Test Statistic
• Discovery of the Tadpole Molecular Cloud near the Galactic Nucleus
• Multi-Step Reconstruction of Radio-Interferometric Images
• A multi-frequency, multi-epoch radio continuum study of the Arches cluster with the VLA
• Fast and "lossless" propagation of relativistic electrons along magnetized non-thermal filaments in galaxy clusters and the Galactic Center region
• ALMA discovery of Punctum -- a highly polarized mm source in nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 4945
• On the Deepest Search for Galactic Center Pulsars and an Examination of an Intriguing Millisecond Pulsar Candidate
• Multiwavelength identification of millisecond pulsar candidates in the Galactic bulge
• MeerKAT discovery of 164 compact radio rings toward the Galactic Plane
• A Decentralized Framework for Radio-interferometric Image Reconstruction
• The SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey filamentary source catalogue
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• SDSS-V LVM: Verifying what, and where, the 'Galactic Center' Lobe is
• The Bright Supernova 1996cr in the Circinus Galaxy Imaged with VLBI: Shell Structure with Complex Evolution
• High Energy Emission from the Galactic Center
• Diffuse Hot Plasma in the Interstellar Medium and Galactic Outflows
• New Hard X-Ray and Multiwavelength Study of the PeVatron Candidate PWN G0.9+0.1 in the Galactic Center Region
• The Complex Magnetic Field of the Extreme Galactic Center: PRIMA Science Potential
• The pulsar wind nebula around B1853+01 in X-rays
• A survey for radio pulsars and transients in the 10 pc region around Sgr A*