AAS 197, January 2001
Session 4. The Milky Way Galaxy
Display, Monday, January 8, 2001, 9:30am-7:00pm, Exhibit Hall

## [4.11] MSX Galactic Center Deep Field Images

D. R. Mizuno (BC), M. P. Egan (AFRL), S. J. Carey, T. A. Kuchar (BC), S. D. Price (AFRL)

The Midcourse Space Experiment sampled a number of 1-degree by 3-degree regions in the Galactic plane, in four mid-infrared wavelength bands between 6 and 25 \mum at a resolution of 20'', at a sensitivity about 3 times greater than the MSX Galactic Plane Survey. This sensitivity is comparable to the ISOGAL experiment but at a factor of two lower resolution. We present results from a subset of these regions including the Galactic center. Four observations covered a slice 1 degree wide, centered at Galactic longitude l = 0, extending to Galactic latitude b = ±4.3 degrees. We will present near to mid-infrared color-color diagrams of stars detected by both MSX and 2MASS. The mid-infrared emission profile as a function of Galactic latitude will be compared to IRAS and COBE results. The data yield an improved estimate of the source density over the confusion-limited IRAS data. The deep field images are extremely oversampled, permitting the use of super-resolution reconstruction techniques. Preliminary super-resolution images constructed with a maximum likelihood method will be presented.