The Parkes methanol multibeam survey

A new 7-beam methanol multibeam receiver was successfully commissioned at Parkes Observatory in January 2006, and has begun surveying the Milky Way for newly forming massive stars, that are pinpointed by strong methanol maser emission at 6.7 GHz. The receiver was jointly constructed by Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Australia Telescope National Facility for use on the Parkes and Lovell Telescopes. The whole galactic plane is being surveyed within latitudes 2, with a velocity resolution of 0.1 km s ¹ and a 5- sensitivity of ~0.7 Jy. Altogether 200 days of observing will be required. © 2007 International Astronomical Union.