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Astronomers Unveil Largest Low-Frequency Radio Image of the Milky Way

Built from combined GLEAM/GLEAM‑X observations after months of processing at Pawsey, the dataset maps the Southern Galactic Plane at unprecedented low‑radio detail.

Overview

  • The mosaic merges GLEAM (2013–14) and GLEAM‑X (2018–20) surveys taken with the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia on Wajarri Yamaji Country.
  • Compared with the 2019 GLEAM release, the new view delivers twice the resolution, ten times the sensitivity, and twice the sky coverage.
  • ICRAR’s team catalogued about 98,000 radio sources across the Southern Galactic Plane, spanning pulsars, compact H II regions, planetary nebulae and distant galaxies.
  • Processing spanned 18 months on Pawsey supercomputers, enabling clearer separation of supernova remnants from star‑forming regions and sharpening studies of pulsars.
  • Researchers describe this as the first published low‑frequency image of the full Southern Galactic Plane, positioning it as a key resource ahead of SKA‑Low.