Expansion of the Owens Valley Millimeter-Wave Array

这项建议要求部分支持扩大 欧文斯谷射电天文台毫米波干涉仪 一个由六个望远镜组成的阵列，同时有十五个基线。 该仪器目前在1.3和2.6毫米波段工作 配备三台10.4米高精度望远镜， SIS接收器。 该干涉仪已成功地用于 对于分子的高分辨率孔径合成映射， 行星大气层，在演化的行星大气层中， 恒星，在本地星星形成区，并在附近的星系。 该项目的主要内容是建设三个 额外的望远镜，每个都配备了双频前端 接收器. 数字光谱相关器将得到扩展 处理15个同步基线，带宽高达500 MHz。 拟议的扩大将导致一个数量级 阵列速度的增加和动态性能的类似增加 通过自校准实现的数据范围 程序. 该系统将是非常通用的， 映射两个主要毫米波段的能力，双 偏振测量和全面成像能力， 角标度大于1”。 最高分辨率将是 类似于用地面获得的最佳光学成像， 基于望远镜 建议这三个新望远镜的资金来自 加州理工学院、美国国家科学基金会和大学的同等贡献 来自多伦多。 这里提交的预算是为国家科学基金会支持一个 三台新望远镜及其相关电子设备的照片。 的 仪器将作为开放设施运行， 加州理工学院外的研究人员

This proposal requests partial support for expansion of the millimeter wave interferometer at Owens Valley Radio Observatory to an array of six telescopes with fifteen simultaneous baselines. The instrument is currently operating in the 1.3 and 2.6 mm bands with three 10.4 m high accuracy telescopes equipped with low noise SIS receivers. The interferometer has been used very successfully for high resolution aperture synthesis mapping of the molecules in planetary atmospheres, in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars, in local star forming regions, and in nearby galaxies. The major element of this project is the construction of three additional telescopes, each equipped with dual frequency front end receivers. The digital spectroscopic correlator will be expanded to handle 15 simultaneous baselines with up to 500 MHz bandwidth. The proposed expansion will result in an order of magnitude increase in speed for the array and similar increase in the dynamic range of the data through implementation of self calibration procedures. The system will be extremely versatile with the capability for mapping both primary millimeter bands, dual polarization measurements and full imaging capability on all angular scales greater than 1". The highest resolution will be similar to that of the best optical imaging obtained with ground- based telescopes. It is proposed that the three new telescopes be funded with equivalent contributions by Caltech, the NSF, and the University of Toronto. The budget submitted here is for NSF support of one of the three new telescopes with its associated electronics. The instrument will be run as an open facility with extensive use by researchers outside Caltech.