The Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Zone of Avoidance Survey. I. Precursor Observations Through The Inner and Outer Galaxy
The Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Zone of Avoidance Survey. I. Precursor Observations Through The Inner and Outer Galaxy
The Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Zone of Avoidance Survey. I. Precursor Observations Through The Inner and Outer Galaxy
1088/0004-6256/139/6/2130
C 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
The Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) is being used to conduct a low-Galactic latitude survey, to map the
distribution of galaxies and large-scale structures behind the Milky Way through detection of galaxies’ neutral
hydrogen (H i) 21 cm emission. This Zone of Avoidance (ZOA) survey finds new H i galaxies which lie hidden
behind the Milky Way, and also provides redshifts for partially obscured galaxies known at other wavelengths.
Before the commencement of the full survey, two low-latitude precursor regions were observed, totaling 138
2
deg , with 72 H i galaxies detected. Detections through the inner Galaxy generally have no cataloged
counterparts in any other waveband, due to the heavy extinction and stellar confusion. Detections through the
outer Galaxy are more likely to have Two Micron All Sky Survey counterparts. We present the results of these
precursor observations, including a catalog of the detected galaxies, with their H i parameters. The survey
sensitivity is well described by a flux- and linewidth-dependent signal-to-noise ratio of 6.5. ALFA ZOA
galaxies, which also have H i measurements in the literature, show good agreement between our measurements
and previous work. The inner Galaxy precursor region was chosen to overlap the H i Parkes Zone of Avoidance
Survey, so ALFA performance could be quickly assessed. The outer Galaxy precursor region lies north of the
Parkes sky. Low-latitude large-scale structure in this region is revealed, including an overdensity of galaxies near
◦ −1
= 183 and between 5000–6000 km s in the ZOA. The full ALFA ZOA survey will be conducted in two
phases: a shallow survey using the observing techniques of the precursor observations, and also a deep phase
with much longer integration time, with thousands of galaxies predicted for the final catalog.
Key words: galaxies: distances and redshifts – galaxies: fundamental parameters – large-scale structure of
universe – surveys
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No. 6, 2010 THE ARECIBO L-BAND FEED ARRAY ZONE OF AVOIDANCE SURVEY. I. 2131