A major milestone has been reached with the first data release from the superMIGHTEE project, combining observations from the MIGHTEE Survey using South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope and India’s upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT). This telescope combination offers the most sensitive and scientifically powerful images of deep-sky radio emission before the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) becomes operational.
The new dataset includes continuum images covering 9.9 deg² at 650 MHz and 6.9 deg² at 400 MHz across XMM-LSS, COSMOS, and E-CDFS fields. In total, over 38 000 radio sources have been catalogued, out to redshifts of z ~ 4 (median z = 1). The goal of this ultra-wideband dataset is to advance our understanding of the evolution of active galactic nuclei and star-forming galaxies, shed light on the role of neutral hydrogen, and explore the origins and evolution of cosmic magnetic fields in clusters, filaments, and galaxies.
IDIA played a key role by processing the vast data volumes on the ilifu research cloud, ensuring that the images and source catalogs are ready for scientists worldwide to explore.