Reconstructing the ZOA from galaxy peculiar velocities

Galaxy peculiar velocity data provide important dynamical clues to the structures obscured by the Zone of Avoidance (hereafter, ZOA) with resolutions of greater than or similar to 500km s(-1) This indirect probe complements the very challenging approach of directly mapping the distribution of galaxies behind the Milky Way. In this work, the Wiener filter method is applied to reconstruct the 3D density and velocity distributions of the universe within less than or similar to 8000km s(-1) using SEcat, the largest peculiar velocity catalog yet. This catalog is a combination of the SFI spiral galaxy peculiar velocity catalog and the newly completed, nearby, early-type galaxy peculiar velocity catalog, ENEAR. The recovered density is smoothed with 900km s(-1) Gaussian. The main reconstructed structures are consistent with those extracted from the IRAS 1.2 Jy redshift galaxy catalogs. The revealed structures within the ZOA are identified and their robustness and significance are discussed.