The SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey filamentary source catalogue

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Main Authors: Williams, Gwenllian M., Thompson, Mark A., Mutale, Mubela, Rigby, Andrew J., Bordiu, Cristobal, Riggi, Simone, Bietenholz, Michael, Anderson, Loren D., Camilo, Fernando, Goedhart, Sharmila, Jaffa, Sarah E., Obonyo, Willice O., Trigilio, Corrado, Umana, Grazia
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Williams, Gwenllian M.
Thompson, Mark A.
Mutale, Mubela
Rigby, Andrew J.
Bordiu, Cristobal
Riggi, Simone
Bietenholz, Michael
Anderson, Loren D.
Camilo, Fernando
Goedhart, Sharmila
Jaffa, Sarah E.
Obonyo, Willice O.
Trigilio, Corrado
Umana, Grazia
author_facet Williams, Gwenllian M.
Thompson, Mark A.
Mutale, Mubela
Rigby, Andrew J.
Bordiu, Cristobal
Riggi, Simone
Bietenholz, Michael
Anderson, Loren D.
Camilo, Fernando
Goedhart, Sharmila
Jaffa, Sarah E.
Obonyo, Willice O.
Trigilio, Corrado
Umana, Grazia
contents We present a catalogue of filamentary structures identified in the SARAO (South African Radio Astronomy Observatory) MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS). We extract 933 filaments across the survey area, 803 of which (~86%) are associated with extended radio structures (e.g. supernova remnants and HII regions), whilst 130 (~14%) are largely isolated. We classify filaments as thermal or non-thermal via their associated mid-infrared emission and find 77/130 (~59%) of the isolated sources are likely to be non-thermal, and are therefore excellent candidates for the first isolated, non-thermal radio filaments observed outside of the Galactic Centre (GC). Comparing the morphological properties of these non-thermal candidates to the non-thermal filaments observed towards the GC we find the GC filaments are on the whole angularly narrower and shorter than those across the SMGPS, potentially an effect of distance. The SMGPS filaments have flux densities similar to those of the GC, however the distribution of the latter extends to higher flux densities. If the SMGPS filaments were closer than the GC population, it would imply a more energetic population of cosmic ray electrons in the GC. We find the filament position angles in the SMGPS are uniformly distributed, implying that the local magnetic field traced by the filaments does not follow the large-scale Galactic field. Finally, although we have clearly shown that filaments are not unique to the GC, the GC nevertheless has the highest density of filaments in the Milky Way.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_07852
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey filamentary source catalogue
Williams, Gwenllian M.
Thompson, Mark A.
Mutale, Mubela
Rigby, Andrew J.
Bordiu, Cristobal
Riggi, Simone
Bietenholz, Michael
Anderson, Loren D.
Camilo, Fernando
Goedhart, Sharmila
Jaffa, Sarah E.
Obonyo, Willice O.
Trigilio, Corrado
Umana, Grazia
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present a catalogue of filamentary structures identified in the SARAO (South African Radio Astronomy Observatory) MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS). We extract 933 filaments across the survey area, 803 of which (~86%) are associated with extended radio structures (e.g. supernova remnants and HII regions), whilst 130 (~14%) are largely isolated. We classify filaments as thermal or non-thermal via their associated mid-infrared emission and find 77/130 (~59%) of the isolated sources are likely to be non-thermal, and are therefore excellent candidates for the first isolated, non-thermal radio filaments observed outside of the Galactic Centre (GC). Comparing the morphological properties of these non-thermal candidates to the non-thermal filaments observed towards the GC we find the GC filaments are on the whole angularly narrower and shorter than those across the SMGPS, potentially an effect of distance. The SMGPS filaments have flux densities similar to those of the GC, however the distribution of the latter extends to higher flux densities. If the SMGPS filaments were closer than the GC population, it would imply a more energetic population of cosmic ray electrons in the GC. We find the filament position angles in the SMGPS are uniformly distributed, implying that the local magnetic field traced by the filaments does not follow the large-scale Galactic field. Finally, although we have clearly shown that filaments are not unique to the GC, the GC nevertheless has the highest density of filaments in the Milky Way.
title The SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey filamentary source catalogue
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.07852