ATLASGAL - APEX Large Area Survey of the Galaxy

The APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) is an imaging survey covering 420 sq. deg. of the inner Galactic plane at a wavelength of 870 μm. The observations were carried out between 2007 and 2010, using the LABOCA bolometer array at the APEX telescope, located at 5100m in Llano de Chajnantor, in the Atacama desert. The noise level reached is typically 60 mJy/beam, with an angular resolution of 19''. In total, this survey required more than 400 hours of telescope time. The continuum emission detected at this wavelength mostly originates from cold interstellar dust. These data reveal thousands of compact, dusty clumps, as well as the large-scale structure of the interstellar medium. The current release consists of emission maps covering the full area surveyed, split in 3x3 sq. deg. tiles. A second set of images, where the LABOCA data have been combined with the results of the Planck satellite, is also available. In addition, two compact source catalogs, extracted with two different methods, are provided.