Spitzer Space Telescope - Legacy General Observer Proposal #20201


GLIMPSE II:  Imaging the Central +/-10  Degrees of the Galactic Plane
with IRAC

Principal Investigator: Ed Churchwell
           Institution: University of Wisconsin

Co-Investigators: 
Babler Brian, University of Wisconsin-Madison                         
Tom Bania, Boston University                                          
Bob Benjamin, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater                      
Dan Clemens, Boston University                                        
Martin Cohen, University of California-Berkeley                       
John Dickey, University of Tasmania                                   
Gerry Gilmore, Cambridge University                                   
Remy Indebetouw, University of Virginia                               
James Jackson, Boston University                                      
Henry Kobulnicky, University of Wyoming                               
Cornelia Lang, University of Iowa                                     
John Mathis, University of Wisconsin-Madison                          
Marilyn Meade, University of Wisconsin-Madison                        
Emily Mercer, Boston University                                       
Susan Stolovy, Spitzer Science Center                                 
Christer Watson, Manchester College                                   
Barbara Whitney, Space Science Institute                              
Mike Wolff, Space Science Institute                                   
Mark Wolfire, University of Maryland                                  
Joris Blommaert, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven                       
Alain Omont, Institute d' Astrophysique de Paris                      
Frederic Schuller, Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie          
Mathias Schultheis, Observatoire de Bescancon                         

Science Category: galactic structure 
 Observing Modes: IracMap 
  Hours Approved: 148.8 

Abstract:
The Galactic center region of our galaxy is unique with conditions not
duplicated anywhere else in the Galaxy.  Several large-scale features
such as the central bar, a large stellar wind-blown bubble centered on
the nucleus and perpendicular to the Galactic plane, and the nuclear
bulge have been identified but their detailed properties such as size,
axial ratios, orientation, mass, dynamics, etc.  are poorly known.
Even the distinction between the nuclear bulge and central bar has
been questioned.  Such poor understanding of fundamental features of
our own Galaxy needs to be rectified.  We propose here to provide a
large sample of spectral energy distributions (SEDs from 1-8 microns)
and positions of stellar tracers that will contribute to a better
understanding of the large scale structures in the inner part of our
Galaxy.  We propose a fully sampled, unbiased, confusion-limited
survey toward longitudes +/- 10  deg of the central region of the
Galaxy in all 4 IRAC bands.  The latitude coverage will be +/- 1 deg
from abs(l)=10  deg to 5 deg, +/-1.5 deg from