Gass: The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey. I. Survey Description, Goals, and Initial Data Release

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series Vol. 181; no. 2; pp. 398 - 412
• Main Authors: McClure-Griffiths, N. M, Pisano, D. J, Calabretta, M. R, Ford, H. Alyson, Lockman, Felix J, Staveley-Smith, L, Kalberla, P. M. W, Bailin, J, Dedes, L, Janowiecki, S, Gibson, B. K, Murphy, T, Nakanishi, H, Newton-McGee, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.04.2009
• ISSN: 0067-0049; 1538-4365
• DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/181/2/398

The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS) is a survey of Galactic atomic hydrogen (H I) emission in the Southern sky covering declinations d <= 1° using the Parkes Radio Telescope. The survey covers 2p steradians with an effective angular resolution of ~16', at a velocity resolution of 1.0 km s-1, and with an rms brightness temperature noise of 57 mK. GASS is the most sensitive, highest angular resolution survey of Galactic H I emission ever made in the Southern sky. In this paper, we outline the survey goals, describe the observations and data analysis, and present the first-stage data release. The data product is a single cube at full resolution, not corrected for stray radiation. Spectra from the survey and other data products are publicly available online.