The ATLASGAL survey coverstwo thirds of the surface area of the Galaxy within 50,000 light years of the Galactic center. Thus it includes practically all (97%) of the star-formation within the Solar Circle, i.e. the inner Galaxy. The image displays a part of ATLASGAL, a region located between the giant molecular complexes called W33 and M17 in the Sagittarius constellation. Zooms in color scale show the 3-color emission from the mid-infrared GLIMPSE survey, and sub-millimeter dust emission from ATLASGAL is shown in red and traced with contours. One region corresponds to a cold, pristine massive clump (upper left inset), and another one to a young massive star (upper right inset). Both objects have sizes of only a few light-years across. In the lower right inset we present a schematic of the Milky Way and show the position of the Solar Circle (green) and region of the Galaxy covered by ATLASGAL (shaded region).
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