We present the first results from a new 250 , 350 , and 500 µm Galactic Plane survey taken with the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope ( BLAST ) in 2005 .
This survey ’ s primary goal is to identify and characterize high-mass proto-stellar objects ( HMPOs ) .
The region studied here covers 4 deg ^ { 2 } near the open cluster NGC 6823 in the constellation Vulpecula ( \ell = 59 ^ { \circ } ) .
We find 60 compact sources ( < 60 ^ { \prime \prime } diameter ) detected simultaneously in all three bands .
Their spectral energy distributions ( SEDs ) are constrained through BLAST , IRAS , Spitzer MIPS , and MSX photometry , with inferred dust temperatures spanning \sim 12 –40 K assuming a dust emissivity index \beta = 1.5 .
The luminosity-to-mass ratio , a distance-independent quantity , spans \sim 0.2 –130 L _ { \odot } M _ { \odot } ^ { -1 } .
Distances are estimated from coincident ^ { 13 } CO ( 1 \rightarrow 0 ) velocities combined with a variety of other velocity and morphological data in the literature .
In total , 49 sources are associated with a molecular cloud complex encompassing NGC 6823 ( distance \sim 2.3 kpc ) , 10 objects with the Perseus Arm ( \sim 8.5 kpc ) and one object is probably in the outer Galaxy ( \sim 14 kpc ) .
Near NGC 6823 , the inferred luminosities and masses of BLAST sources span \sim 40 – 10 ^ { 4 } L _ { \odot } , and \sim 15 – 700 M _ { \odot } , respectively .
The mass spectrum is compatible with molecular gas masses in other high-mass star forming regions .
Several luminous sources appear to be Ultra Compact H ii regions powered by early B stars .
However , many of the objects are cool , massive gravitationally-bound clumps with no obvious internal radiation from a protostar , and hence excellent HMPO candidates .