The Arecibo methanol maser galactic plane survey

Abstract

The Arecibo Methanol Maser Galactic Plane Survey (AMGPS) is a blind survey for 6.7 GHz methanol masers in a section of the Galactic plane visible from the Arecibo radio telescope. The survey for these signposts of massive star formation is complete at a flux density level of 0.27 Jy making it the most sensitive blind survey for methanol masers carried out to date, and resulted in the detection of 86 methanol masers, 48 of which are new discoveries. The properties of methanol masers discovered in the survey are consistent with their being associated with early phases of massive star formation. The data also show the tangent point of the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm to be around a Galactic longitude of 49.6°.