# The QUaD Galactic Plane Survey 1: Maps And Analysis of Diffuse Emission

Source: [The QUaD Galactic Plane Survey 1: Maps And Analysis of Diffuse Emission](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa2f381e209131ce86a281>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-27T03:29:04.040Z

Authors: T. Culverhouse, P. Ade, J. Bock, M. Bowden, M. L. Brown, G. Cahill, P. G. Castro, S. Church, R. Friedman, K. Ganga, W. K. Gear, S. Gupta, J. Hinderks, J. Kovac, A. E. Lange, E. Leitch, S. J. Melhuish, Y. Memari, J. A. Murphy, A. Orlando, R. Schwarz, C. O' Sullivan, L. Piccirillo, C. Pryke, N. Rajguru, B. Rusholme, A. N. Taylor, K. L. Thompson, A. H. Turner, E. Y. S. Wu, M. Zemcov

Published: 2010-01-08T20:19:31.000Z

## Abstract

We present a survey of ~800 square degrees of the galactic plane observed with the QUaD telescope. The primary product of the survey are maps of Stokes I, Q and U parameters at 100 and 150 GHz, with spatial resolution 5 and 3.5 arcminutes respectively. Two regions are covered, spanning approximately 245-295 and 315-5 degrees in galactic longitude l, and -4\<b\<+4 degrees in galactic latitude b. At 0.02 degree square pixel size, the median sensitivity is 74 and 107 kJy/sr at 100 GHz and 150 GHz respectively in I, and 98 and 120 kJy/sr for Q and U. In total intensity, we find an average spectral index of 2.35+/-0.01 (stat) +/- 0.02 (sys) for \|b\|\<1 degree, indicative of emission components other than thermal dust. A comparison to published dust, synchrotron and free-free models implies an excess of emission in the 100 GHz QUaD band, while better agreement is found at 150 GHz. A smaller excess is observed when comparing QUaD 100 GHz data to WMAP 5-year W band; in this case the excess is likely due to the wider bandwidth of QUaD. Combining the QUaD and WMAP data, a two-component spectral fit to the inner galactic plane (\|b\|\<1 degree) yields mean spectral indices of -0.32 +/- 0.03 and 2.84 +/- 0.03; the former is interpreted as a combination of the spectral indices of synchrotron, free-free and dust, while the second is attributed largely to the thermal dust continuum. In the same galactic latitude range, the polarization data show a high degree of alignment perpendicular to the expected galactic magnetic field direction, and exhibit mean polarization fraction 1.38+/-0.08 (stat) +/-0.1 (sys) % at 100 GHz and 1.70 +/- 0.06 (stat) +/- 0.1 (sys) % at 150GHz. We find agreement in polarization fraction between QUaD 100 GHz and WMAP W band, the latter giving 1.1 +/- 0.4 %.

## Recorded benchmark results

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## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1001.1333>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/1001.1333.pdf>)