Collaborative Research: Astronomical Research with CARMA - Raising our Sites

毫米波天文学组合阵列（CARMA）正在一个新的地点合并两个现有的望远镜阵列，这两个望远镜阵列由天文科学部大学射电天文台（URO）计划支持。 这是加州理工学院的欧文斯谷射电天文台（OVRO）的六个10.4米直径的望远镜阵列，和伯克利伊利诺伊州马里兰州协会（比马）的九个6.1米直径的望远镜阵列。 CARMA将在1毫米波长处实现高达0.2角秒的分辨率，并且由于其望远镜直径的异质组合，将在所有角度尺度上提供出色的成像。 CARMA在1毫米波段的灵敏度将比现有阵列高一个数量级，这是由于新站点的大气衰减较低，合并阵列的收集面积更大，接收器和光谱仪得到改进，以及自适应大气相位校正。 CARMA所带来的新科学涵盖了广泛的天文学主题，包括星星形成和分子云，外部星系的研究以及太阳系天体的调查。

ABSTRACTThe Combined Array for Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) is in the process of merging at a new site two existing telescope arrays supported by the Division of Astronomical Sciences University Radio Observatories (URO) Program. These are Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) array of six 10.4-meter-diameter telescopes, and the Berkeley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) array of nine 6.1-meter-diameter telescopes. CARMA will achieve resolutions as high as 0.2 arcseconds at a wavelength of 1mm and, due to its heterogeneous combination of telescope diameters, will provide excellent imaging on all angular scales. CARMA's sensitivity in the 1 mm band will be an order of magnitude greater than that of the existing arrays due to the lower atmospheric attenuation of the new site, and the merged array's greater collecting area, improved receivers and spectrometer, and adaptive atmospheric phase correction. The new science enabled by CARMA covers a broad range of astronomical topics, including star formation and molecular clouds, studies of external galaxies, and the investigation of solar system objects.