Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – On December 11, it was learned from the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the "Milky Way Scroll" (MWISP) sky survey, led by the observatory, has officially released its first batch of millimeter-wave molecular spectral line observation data to the world.
The "Milky Way Scroll" sky survey is a large-scale millimeter-wave molecular spectral line survey. Covering a 2310-square-degree area near the galactic plane in the northern sky (galactic longitude 10 to 230 degrees, galactic latitude ±5.25 degrees), the survey precisely depicts the distribution and structure of molecular gas in the Milky Way by detecting millimeter-wave spectral line signals emitted by interstellar carbon monoxide and its isotopes. The research team, starting in 2011, completed the first phase of the survey over more than 10 years, accumulating over 100 million spectral line data points and constructing the most comprehensive millimeter-wave carbon monoxide molecular spectral line database to date, providing an unprecedented panoramic perspective for Milky Way research.
The "Milky Way Panorama" sky survey was conducted using the 13.7-meter millimeter-wave radio telescope at the Qinghai Observatory of the Purple Mountain Observatory in Delingha, Qinghai Province. This telescope is currently my country's only large-scale radio astronomy observation facility operating routinely in the millimeter-wave band. Its core back-end instrument—the multi-beam superconducting imaging spectrometer—possesses multi-spectral line synchronous reception capabilities, increasing observation efficiency by 60 times compared to traditional methods, enabling a highly sensitive, high-resolution, and detailed survey of the Milky Way's molecular gas.
The "Milky Way Panorama" survey data exhibits significant advantages in sensitivity, dynamic range, multi-spectral line synchronous observation, and uniform sampling over a large sky area, surpassing previous international carbon monoxide survey projects. This survey not only clearly outlines the macroscopic distribution structure of the Milky Way's molecular gas but also meticulously reveals the internal details and physical properties of interstellar molecular clouds, providing a high-precision, multi-spectral line joint analysis "three-dimensional sky map" and "survey report" of the Milky Way's molecular gas for studying the Milky Way's gas cycle and star formation processes. Its data results have irreplaceable fundamental supporting value for understanding the distribution and structure of matter and the gas ecological cycle of the Milky Way.
This public release of data will further promote collaborative innovation in multi-wavelength astronomical research. The "Milky Way Panorama" data will collaborate with major domestic scientific facilities such as FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope) and LHAASO (Large-scale High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory) to support cutting-edge research on star formation and galaxy evolution by research teams both domestically and internationally.
The success of the "Milky Way Panorama" survey has accumulated key technical experience for the next generation of large-aperture millimeter-wave/submillimeter-wave telescopes to conduct surveys with hundreds of beams, and also demonstrates China's growing support capabilities and international cooperation value in the field of fundamental astronomical data.
