Galactic pane infrared polarization survey (GPIPS): Data Release 4

Date Issued
2020-07-29Publisher Version
10.3847/1538-4365/ab9f30Author(s)
Clemens, D. P.
Cashman, Lauren
Cerny, Catherine
El-Batal, Adham
Jameson, Katherine
Marchwinski, R.
Montgomery, Jordan
Pavel, M.
Pinnick, A.
Taylor, B.
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Show full item recordPermanent Link
https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42006Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation (published version)
D.P. Clemens, Lauren Cashman, Catherine Cerny, Adham El-Batal, Katherine Jameson, R. Marchwinski, Jordan Montgomery, M. Pavel, A. Pinnick, B. Taylor. 2020. "Galactic Plane Infrared Polarization Survey (GPIPS): Data Release 4." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, Volume 249, Issue 2, pp. 1 - 43 (43). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ab9f30Abstract
The Galactic Plane Infrared Polarization Survey (GPIPS) seeks to characterize the magnetic field in the dusty Galactic disk using near-infrared stellar polarimetry. All GPIPS observations were completed using the 1.83 m Perkins telescope and Mimir instrument. GPIPS observations surveyed 76 deg2 of the northern Galactic plane, from Galactic longitudes 18°–56° and latitudes −1° to +1°, in the H band (1.6 μm). Surveyed stars span 7th–16th mag, resulting in nearly 10 million stars with measured linear polarizations. Of these stars, ones with m_H < 12.5 mag and polarization percentage uncertainties under 2% were judged to be high quality and number over one million. GPIPS data reveal plane-of-sky magnetic field orientations for numerous interstellar clouds for AV values to ∼30 mag. The average sky separation of stars with m_H < 12.5 mag is about 30″, or about 60 per Planck polarization resolution element. Matching to Gaia DR2 showed the brightest GPIPS stars are red giants with distances in the 0.6–7.5 kpc range. Polarization orientations are mostly parallel to the Galactic disk, with some zones showing significant orientation departures. Changes in orientations are stronger as a function of Galactic longitude than of latitude. Considered at 10′ angular scales, directions that show the greatest polarization fractions and narrowest polarization position angle distributions are confined to about 10 large, coherent structures that are not correlated with star-forming clouds. The GPIPS polarimetric and photometric data products (Data Release 4 catalogs and images) are publicly available for over 13 million stars.
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