Galaxy MapFeb 15

I'm continuing to tweak my model of the Milky Way based on catalogs of objects in or near the galactic plane. I found a great molecular cloud catalog described in a 2017 paper.

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...834...57M/abstract

Although distance estimates derived from gas velocity are not as reliable as parallax, we are still dependent on them because there are very few maser parallax measurements from the southern hemisphere.

This shows the molecular cloud data and my model out to 12 kpc. Galactic centre down.

Show threadGalaxy Map
Combined with Gaia OB star density, masers (light blue dots) and structures from my spiral model including the bar, ring, Carina arm (green) and Norma arm (blue).
Feb 15 at 12:26pmWeb
Show threadGalaxy MapFeb 15

I am delighted to see how well the molecular cloud distribution seems to track my model (although other people may disagree).

Moreover, these map experiments provide strong hints where to look in the Gaia DR4 data to try to find galactic structure.

Show threadGalaxy MapFeb 15
Latest version of my model based on the above tweaks.