Astronomical Studies with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory

AbstractAST 99 - 80846。加州理工学院。PI: T.G.菲利普加州理工学院亚毫米天文台的天文学研究该奖项支持加州理工学院亚毫米天文台（CSO）的研究、技术开发和学生教育。CSO由一个直径10.4米的高表面精度天线组成，位于夏威夷岛莫纳克亚山顶下近14000英尺的高度。CSO的任务是对波长范围为1mm-350mm的天体进行光谱和连续观测；地球大气对这些波长的辐射不透明是天文台位于高海拔地区的原因。天文台是在1984-1987年期间由国家科学基金会资助建造的。CSO是目前美国唯一一个能够在整个亚毫米大气窗口内运行的设施。中央天文台计划在未来三年，利用新摄影机及其他改良仪器，进行三项主要计划：(i)探测及研究遥远及可能是原始星系的星际介质；（ii）在足够大的星系团样本中进行高频Sunyaev-Zel'dovich测量，以对哈勃常数进行有意义的独立测量；（三）研究稠密星际介质中恒星形成的最早阶段

AbstractAST 99-80846. California Institute of Technology. PI: T.G. PhillipsAstronomical Studies with the Caltech Submillimeter ObservatoryThis award supports research, technological development, and student education at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). The CSO consists of a 10.4-meter-diameter, high surface precision antenna located at an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet, just below the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. The CSO's mission is to carry out spectroscopic and continuum observations of astronomical objects in the wavelength range 1mm-350mm; the opacity of the Earth's atmosphere to radiation at these wavelengths is the reason for the observatory's location at high altitude. The observatory was constructed with funds from the NSF during the period 1984-1987. The CSO is presently the only US facility capable of operations throughout the full submillimeter atmospheric window.Using new cameras and other enhanced instrumentation, the CSO is proposing in the next three years to carry out three key projects: (i) detection and study of the interstellar medium in distant and possibly primordial galaxies; (ii) pursuit of high-frequency Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements in a large enough galaxy cluster sample to make a meaningful independent measurement of the Hubble constant; and (iii) study of the very earliest stages of star formation in the dense interstellar medium