Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
May 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007sptz.prop40802j&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #40802
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
The southern Milky Way shrouds one of the most important dynamical structures in the local universe, the Great Attractor, whose discovery some two decades ago has sparked intensive research into the large scale mass distribution of galaxies over the entire sky. And yet the Great Attractor itself -- its size, density and total mass -- remains largely a mystery as it is cut in half by the gas and dust mask of the foreground Galactic Plane. Without a complete picture of the local galaxy distribution, the reconstructed density field and cosmological density and biasing parameters will like-wise remain uncertain. Here we propose to use IRAC & MIPS to map the most heavily extinguished region of the Great Attractor, the 'heart' of the Norma Wall of galaxies that stretches across the plane of the Milky Way. Our preliminary investigation of this region using the shallow GLIMPSE survey resulted in detecting luminous galaxies that trace a more massive underlying population. We will identify and extract galaxies, follow them up with spectroscopic measurements to create a 3-D catalog of infrared galaxies in the region. Such a catalog will reveal the hidden large scale structure, completing the remaining gap that divides the southern and northern extragalactic sky after dedicated efforts in the optical, near-IR, X-ray and radio in mapping the galaxy distribution in the Great Attractor region. A complete view of the galaxy density field will enable comparison of the Great Attractor with the more distant Shapley Concentration to resolve the ongoing debate on their relative importance in generating the peculiar velocity field of the local universe. Spitzer is ideally suited to addressing the most difficult challenge associated with understanding the Great Attractor -- Spitzer is capable of simultaneously detecting all types of galaxies and penetrating the thick dust lanes of the Milky Way.
Erdogdu Pirin
Fairall Tony
Huchra John
Jarrett Thomas
Jones Heath
No associations
LandOfFree
Unveiling the Hidden Heart of the Great Attractor does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Unveiling the Hidden Heart of the Great Attractor, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Unveiling the Hidden Heart of the Great Attractor will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1750218