The Submillimeter Telescope Observatory: A Progress Report on Current Instrumentation and Observations
Abstract
The Heinrich Hertz Telescope (HHT) of the Submillimeter Telescope Observatory (SMTO) is a collaborative effort of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie, Bonn and Steward Observatory, Tucson. The HHT is a 10 m diameter telescope, dedicated to submillimeter observations. The telescope is located at 3200 meters on Mt. Graham, AZ. The SMTO has 3 facility SIS heterodyne receivers at 1.3, 0.87, and 0.6 mm. In addition, it has a submillimeter 4-color bolometer system, capable of making observations in the 1.3, 0.87, 0.45, and 0.35 mm atmospheric windows. Available backends consist of both wide- and narrow-band acousto-optical spectrometers as well as a high resolution filterbank system. In addition to the facility instruments, we have had several successful programs involving guest instruments. This season, the first observations were obtained with a new MPI 7-channel array bolometer system. A 0.35mm PI system from MPI was also tested. We also had the first successful use of a Hot-Electron Bolometer System for astronomical observations at any telescope. The system, developed by the receiver group at the Harvard-Smithosonian Center for Astrophysics, observed at both 691 and 826 GHz (0.43 and 0.36 mm). Over the past two seasons, observers from both MPI and Arizona have been engaged in a wide range of projects including CO observations in galaxies, continuum studies of Vega-like stars and young stellar objects, chemical studies of comets and molecular clouds, and mapping the density structure of envelopes around young stars. We will summarize the current status of the SMTO instrumentation and observations.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #192
- Pub Date:
- May 1998
- Bibcode:
- 1998AAS...192.3402S