Astronomy Research at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory

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ABSTRACT AST-9420159. Irvine, William M. The 14m radio telescope of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) is owned and operated by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. By operating the facility under the Five College Astronomy program, faculty and students at the University and 4 other nearby institutions (Smith College, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College and Hampshire College) can utilize each other's facilities. The antenna is used primarily for interstellar spectroscopy in the 80-120 GHz band, although single-pixel receivers are also available for the 130-170 GHz and 35-50 GHz bands; a dual-channel 1mm receiver system is also available. This award will support education, technology development and research with the 14-meter radio telescope for a period of three years. Building on its success during the past three-year grant period, the 15-element focal plane array receiver and recentlycompleted autocorrelator spectrometer will be used in a wide variety of studies of objects ranging from the Solar system to the distant galaxies. Major observatory programs in this period will include an imaging survey of carbon monoxide emission from the first quadrant of the Galaxy, a systematic survey of the cores of several nearby molecular clouds, objects believed to be sites of imminent star formation, and a systematic, high-resolution study of molecular gas in the nearby Andromeda spiral galaxy. Work will also begin on a new generation of focal plane array receivers, intended to increase the mapping capabilities of the FCRAO antenna by an order of magnitude. ***