Leading First Mid-IR Astronomy by the CanariCam Science Team at the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC)

当它在2009年秋天开始科学运行时，加那利大望远镜（GTC）将成为世界上最大的光学和红外望远镜。GTC位于西班牙加那利群岛拉帕尔马岛上2400米高的Roque de los Muchachos。它的分段反射镜的集光面积相当于直径10.4米的单个圆形反射镜。佛罗里达大学是西班牙和墨西哥的GTC合作伙伴。特勒斯科博士领导的团队建造了CanariCam，这是GTC设施照相机，在波长在8到25微米之间的中红外（热）区域工作。为了充分利用仪器制造商获得的30多晚的GTC观测时间，Telesco博士组建了一个由30多名天文学家组成的国际团队——CanariCam科学团队（CCST）。CCST将在三个关键领域进行开创性的研究：亚恒星天体（褐矮星和巨大的系外行星）、活动星系核和原行星盘。这些结果将对我们对天体物理学前沿难题的理解产生广泛的影响。该奖项为确保CCST的成功提供了关键的起点支持，包括观察运行和团队会议的旅费。这对于使GTC全面科学运行，并允许美国使用世界上最大的望远镜及其最先进的中红外仪器至关重要。国家科学技术中心的研究生和博士后将在一流的国际环境中接受培训，这也将为未来的全球合作奠定基础。

AST-0903672TelescoWhen it begins science operations in Fall 2009, the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) will be the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world. The GTC is located atop 2400-meter-high Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands. Its segmented mirror has a light-collecting area equivalent to a single circular mirror 10.4 meters in diameter. The University of Florida is a GTC partner with Spain and Mexico. Dr Telesco led the team that built CanariCam, the GTC facility camera that operates in the mid-infrared (thermal) region at wavelengths between 8 and 25 microns. To use to best advantage over 30 nights of GTC observing time awarded to the instrument builder, Dr Telesco formed the CanariCam Science Team (CCST), an international team of more than thirty astronomers. The CCST will carry out groundbreaking research in three key areas: sub-stellar objects (brown dwarfs and giant exoplanets), active galactic nuclei, and protoplanetary disks. These results will have broad implications for our understanding of puzzles at the leading edge of astrophysics.This award provides critical threshold support to assure the success of the CCST, covering travel funds for observing runs and team meetings. This is crucial for bringing the GTC into full science operation and allowing US access to the world's largest telescope and its state-of-the-art mid-IR instrumentation. The graduate students and post-docs on the CCST will receive training in a superlative international environment, which will also lay the groundwork for future world-wide collaborations.