2,156 research outputs found
HARP/ACSIS: A submillimetre spectral imaging system on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
This paper describes a new Heterodyne Array Receiver Programme (HARP) and
Auto-Correlation Spectral Imaging System (ACSIS) that have recently been
installed and commissioned on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The
16-element focal-plane array receiver, operating in the submillimetre from 325
to 375 GHz, offers high (three-dimensional) mapping speeds, along with
significant improvements over single-detector counterparts in calibration and
image quality. Receiver temperatures are 120 K across the whole band and
system temperatures of 300K are reached routinely under good weather
conditions. The system includes a single-sideband filter so these are SSB
figures. Used in conjunction with ACSIS, the system can produce large-scale
maps rapidly, in one or more frequency settings, at high spatial and spectral
resolution. Fully-sampled maps of size 1 square degree can be observed in under
1 hour.
The scientific need for array receivers arises from the requirement for
programmes to study samples of objects of statistically significant size, in
large-scale unbiased surveys of galactic and extra-galactic regions. Along with
morphological information, the new spectral imaging system can be used to study
the physical and chemical properties of regions of interest. Its
three-dimensional imaging capabilities are critical for research into
turbulence and dynamics. In addition, HARP/ACSIS will provide highly
complementary science programmes to wide-field continuum studies, and produce
the essential preparatory work for submillimetre interferometers such as the
SMA and ALMA.Comment: MNRAS Accepted 2009 July 2. 18 pages, 25 figures and 6 table
The X-ray Telescope of CAST
The Cern Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is in operation and taking data since
2003. The main objective of the CAST experiment is to search for a hypothetical
pseudoscalar boson, the axion, which might be produced in the core of the sun.
The basic physics process CAST is based on is the time inverted Primakoff
effect, by which an axion can be converted into a detectable photon in an
external electromagnetic field. The resulting X-ray photons are expected to be
thermally distributed between 1 and 7 keV. The most sensitive detector system
of CAST is a pn-CCD detector combined with a Wolter I type X-ray mirror system.
With the X-ray telescope of CAST a background reduction of more than 2 orders
off magnitude is achieved, such that for the first time the axion photon
coupling constant g_agg can be probed beyond the best astrophysical constraints
g_agg < 1 x 10^-10 GeV^-1.Comment: 19 pages, 25 figures and images, replaced by the revised version
accepted for publication in New Journal of Physic
GREAT: the SOFIA high-frequency heterodyne instrument
We describe the design and construction of GREAT, the German REceiver for
Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies operated on the Stratospheric Observatory
for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). GREAT is a modular dual-color heterodyne
instrument for highresolution far-infrared (FIR) spectroscopy. Selected for
SOFIA's Early Science demonstration, the instrument has successfully performed
three Short and more than a dozen Basic Science flights since first light was
recorded on its April 1, 2011 commissioning flight.
We report on the in-flight performance and operation of the receiver that -
in various flight configurations, with three different detector channels -
observed in several science-defined frequency windows between 1.25 and 2.5 THz.
The receiver optics was verified to be diffraction-limited as designed, with
nominal efficiencies; receiver sensitivities are state-of-the-art, with
excellent system stability. The modular design allows for the continuous
integration of latest technologies; we briefly discuss additional channels
under development and ongoing improvements for Cycle 1 observations.
GREAT is a principal investigator instrument, developed by a consortium of
four German research institutes, available to the SOFIA users on a
collaborative basis
Z-Spec: a broadband direct-detection millimeter-wave spectrometer -- instrument status and first results
We report on the status of Z-Spec, including preliminary results of our first astronomical measurements. Z-Spec is a cryogenic, broadband, millimeter-wave grating spectrometer designed for molecular line surveys of galaxies, including carbon monoxide redshift measurements of high-redshift submillimeter sources. With an instantaneous bandwidth of 185-305 GHz, Z-Spec covers the entire 1 mm atmospheric transmission window with a resolving power of 200-400. The spectrometer employs the Waveguide Far-Infrared Spectrometer (WaFIRS) architecture, in which the light propagation is confined within a parallel-plate waveguide, resulting in a minimum mechanical envelope. Its array of 160 silicon-nitride micromesh bolometers is cooled to below 100 mK for background-limited performance. With its sensitivity, broad bandwidth, and compactness, Z-Spec serves as a prototype for a future far-IR spectrometer aboard a cold telescope in space. Z-Spec successfully demonstrated functionality with a partial array of detectors and warm electronics during a week-long engineering run at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory in June, 2005. We describe the instrument performance evaluated at the telescope and in subsequent laboratory tests and compare these results with design specifications. Following several modifications we returned to the telescope in April, 2006. We present a preliminary astronomical spectrum and discuss our plans to improve sensitivity and throughput to achieve our ultimate science goals
POLARIX: a pathfinder mission of X-ray polarimetry
Since the birth of X-ray astronomy, spectral, spatial and timing observation
improved dramatically, procuring a wealth of information on the majority of the
classes of the celestial sources. Polarimetry, instead, remained basically
unprobed. X-ray polarimetry promises to provide additional information
procuring two new observable quantities, the degree and the angle of
polarization. POLARIX is a mission dedicated to X-ray polarimetry. It exploits
the polarimetric response of a Gas Pixel Detector, combined with position
sensitivity, that, at the focus of a telescope, results in a huge increase of
sensitivity. Three Gas Pixel Detectors are coupled with three X-ray optics
which are the heritage of JET-X mission. POLARIX will measure time resolved
X-ray polarization with an angular resolution of about 20 arcsec in a field of
view of 15 arcmin 15 arcmin and with an energy resolution of 20 % at 6
keV. The Minimum Detectable Polarization is 12 % for a source having a flux of
1 mCrab and 10^5 s of observing time. The satellite will be placed in an
equatorial orbit of 505 km of altitude by a Vega launcher.The telemetry
down-link station will be Malindi. The pointing of POLARIX satellite will be
gyroless and it will perform a double pointing during the earth occultation of
one source, so maximizing the scientific return. POLARIX data are for 75 % open
to the community while 25 % + SVP (Science Verification Phase, 1 month of
operation) is dedicated to a core program activity open to the contribution of
associated scientists. The planned duration of the mission is one year plus
three months of commissioning and SVP, suitable to perform most of the basic
science within the reach of this instrument.Comment: 42 pages, 28 figure
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