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| Paper: |
AST/RO: Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory |
| Volume: |
217, Imaging at Radio Through Submillimeter Wavelengths |
| Page: |
1 |
| Authors: |
Bania, T. M. |
| Abstract: |
AST/RO, a 1.7 meter diameter telescope, was installed in 1994-95 at the South Pole. Since then AST/RO has been in continuous operation, exploiting the consistently clear submillimeter sky above the Antarctic Plateau. This season AST/RO is operating: (1) a 230 GHz SIS receiver; (2) a 492 GHz SIS quasi-optical receiver; and (3) a dual-frequency 492 and 810 GHz SIS waveguide receiver. The spectrometers are two 1.1-GHz bandwidth AOSs, each with 2048 channels, and one 63-MHz bandwidth 2048 channel high-resolution AOS. The entire system is highly automated; we have successfully operated AST/RO from Boston over the Internet. The immediate scientific goals of this instrument are atomic and molecular line spectroscopy of the ISM at wavelengths near 600 microns; however, AST/RO is a general purpose telescope for wavelengths between 200 and 2,000 microns. AST/RO is studying the ISM in the Milky Way, the LMC, and the SMC. We are currently focussing on using the 609 microns CI (3P1 - 3P0) transition as a probe of PDRs. To assess the influence on PDR structure and composition of UV fields, metallicity, and dust opacity, we have focussed initially on (1) specific astrophysical laboratories in order to isolate particular physical conditions, and (2) objects with substantial amounts of information about the other important PDR tracers, namely C+ and CO. |
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