Speaker
Description
The deep SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS) covers the whole southern Milky Way along a narrow strip of Δ𝑏 ∼ 3◦. While primarily aimed at exploring the inner Galaxy, the SMGPS provides a unique opportunity to trace the large-scale distribution of galaxies from their redshifted HI-line emission. Thanks to the excellent resolution and sensitivity of the SMGPS (rms = 0.30-0.60 mJy/beam), the HI-survey is sensitive to 9.6 x 10^9M⊙ galaxies throughout the probed volume of cz < 25,000 km/s, encompassing the full distance range relevant to bulk flow, and at the GA distance to galaxies of 10^8M⊙.
To date, 2300 HI-galaxies were detected along longitude range 55◦ < l < 260◦, of which only 119 were previously identified in HIZOA. I will present results on the Local Void, its extent and population, the continuation of the OphSCL across the ZOA, the surprising prominence of the GA-Wall in the inner Zone of Avoidance, as well as a newly uncovered structure in close proximity to the GA. New insights into the Vela SCL will presented by S. Rajohnson.
