Operations and Maintenance Support for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

詹姆斯·克莱克·麦克斯韦望远镜(JCMT)是世界上最大的亚毫米波单碟式望远镜。它位于夏威夷的一个绝佳位置，配备了两台最先进的亚毫米相机、一台10,000像素的双波段连续成像相机(Scuba-2)以及一台16像素的2000通道光谱相机(HARP)。JCMT的测绘能力对于当今天文学中两个最突出的研究课题尤为重要：追踪早期宇宙中年轻星系的形成和演化，以及探测稠密气体中的物理条件，这种致密气体为我们所在的银河系和其他银河系附近和远处的恒星形成提供了燃料。JCMT具有宽视场测绘能力，与阿塔卡马大毫米/亚毫米阵列(ALMA)等新望远镜之间有着极好的协同作用，ALMA是智利的一个强大的新射电阵列，于2011年开始科学作业。天文学家使用JCMT在天空中发现新的和有趣的物体，然后用高分辨率图像跟进，用ALMA详细研究它们的性质。因此，对JCMT的相对较小的投资使加拿大人能够最大限度地利用我们在ALMA的较大投资。 JCMT有50%的时间用于大型“关键项目”，其余时间用于较短的有针对性的提案。JCMT的时间是在竞争、同行评审的基础上授予的，只有为JCMT的运行成本提供资金的国家的天文学家才能获得时间。加拿大大学的天文学家及其研究生和博士后研究员积极参与JCMT大型项目，并充分利用望远镜提出有针对性的建议，特别是支持博士论文。加拿大领导的JCMT研究范围从研究中子星双星系统形成的圆盘和喷流之间的耦合，到识别早期宇宙中年轻的尘埃星系。这些新发现促进了我们对恒星和星系形成和演化的理解。JCMT为加拿大研究生提供了一个独特的机会，让他们在具有国际竞争力的望远镜上获得实践培训。 该提案要求在两年期间(2017-2019年)为联合技术中心的运营和维护提供资金支持。通过这项提案为加拿大对JCMT业务的贡献提供资金，将确保加拿大研究人员及其学生通过个人小提案和作为更大国际团队的一部分，继续接触JCMT。未来两年将是非常令人兴奋的时期，因为JCMT关键项目的结果开始显现，包括有史以来绘制的亚毫米天空最深的地图和恒星形成云的令人惊叹的图像。我们将确保加拿大研究人员能够继续在JCMT的科学开发中发挥重要作用。

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is the largest submillimetre-wave single dish telescope in the world. It is located at an excellent site in Hawai`i and is equipped with two state-of-the-art submillimetre cameras, a 10,000 pixel dual-band continuum camera (SCUBA-2) as well as a 16 pixel 2000 channel spectroscopic camera (HARP). The mapping capabilities of the JCMT are particularly important for two of the most prominent research topics in astronomy today: tracing the formation and evolution of young galaxies in the early universe, and probing the physical conditions in the dense gas that provides the fuel for star formation both in our own Milky Way and in other galaxies near and far. There is excellent synergy between the JCMT with its wide-field mapping capabilities and new telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a powerful new radio array in Chile that began science operations in 2011. Astronomers use the JCMT to find new and interesting objects in the sky and then follow up with high resolution images to study their properties in detail with ALMA. Thus, a relatively small investment in the JCMT enables Canadians to make the best use of our larger investment in ALMA. The JCMT is used fifty percent of the time for large "key programs" with the remaining time used for shorter targeted proposals. Time is awarded on the JCMT on the basis of a competitive, peer-reviewed process and is only available to astronomers in countries that contribute to JCMT operations costs. Astronomers at Canadian universities and their graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are heavily involved in the JCMT large programs as well as making good use of the telescope for targeted proposals, especially to support Ph.D. student theses. Canadian-led research on the JCMT ranges from studying the coupling between a disk and a jet formed by a neutron star binary system to identifying young dusty galaxies in the early universe. These new discoveries advance our understanding of the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. The JCMT provides a unique opportunity for Canadian graduate students to obtain hands-on training at an internationally competitive telescope. This proposal requests funds to support the operation and maintenance of the JCMT over a two year period (2017-2019). Funding a Canadian contribution to JCMT operations via this proposal will ensure continued access to the JCMT by Canadian researchers and their students, both via individual small proposals and as part of larger international teams. The next two years will be a very exciting period as the results of the JCMT Key Programs begin to appear, including the deepest map of the submillimetre sky ever made and stunning images of star-forming clouds. We will ensure that Canadian researchers can continue to play an important role in the scientific exploitation of the JCMT.