HEAT's 60cm aperture telescope captured wide-field spectroscopic maps of the Milky Way in frequency bands from 0.5 to 2 THz. This first data release contains maps showing the strength of various atomic and molecular emission lines across tens of square degrees in the Galactic Plane. The data was collected by the High Elevation Antarctic Terahertz telescope as part of the PLATO-R experiment and released in 2015.
Use Cases
- Estimate distances to interstellar clouds by analyzing the doppler shift of molecular emission line frequencies.
- Map the distribution and strength of specific atomic emission lines across tens of square degrees in the Galactic Plane.
- Model the physical conditions of the interstellar medium by correlating intensities of different molecular emission lines within the same field-of-view.
- Create wide-field spatial models of the Milky Way's structure using the geospatial coordinates of each spectroscopic observation.
Strengths
- Data covers unique high-frequency terahertz bands from 0.5 to 2 THz.
- Observations span wide fields-of-view covering tens of square degrees in the Galactic Plane.
- Data originates from a specialized 60cm telescope deployed at the high-altitude Ridge A site in Antarctica.
Limitations
- Dataset is from a 2015 release and may lack subsequent calibration or updates.
- Specific sample size, row count, and file formats are not documented.
- The license terms for use and redistribution are unknown.
Provenance
- Source
- High Elevation Antarctic Terahertz (HEAT) telescope, part of the PLATO-R experiment.
- Collection Method
- Wide-field spectroscopic mapping using a 60cm aperture telescope.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Observations target the Galactic Plane. Telescope located at Ridge A, Antarctica.