NANTEN2: A Submillimeter Telescope for Large Scale Surveys at Atacama
Abstract
We have been installing the NANTEN2 4-m telescope at Pampa la Bola at an altitude of 4,800m to realize a large-scale survey at submm wavelengths. This is an upgrade of the 4-m mm telescope, NANTEN, that was operated at Las Campanas observatory, Chile. We have been carrying out extensive molecular cloud surveys in the Galaxy as well as toward the Magellanic system for seven years. In this new project, we will make large-scale surveys toward the Galaxy and the nearby galaxies including the Magellanic Clouds by using for example, CO and CI lines in a 100-800 GHz range. The purpose is an elucidation of evolution of interstellar matter and the mechanism of star formation in the local group by revealing the distribution, kinematics, and physical conditions of interstellar gas in the atomic-molecular phases with the thorough extensive survey. The telescope is enclosed in a dome with a shiftable membrane to prevent perturbations such as strong wind and sunlight. The installation started at the beginning of 2004, and the inauguration was held on the 25th of November 2004. The highest observing frequencies will be covered by the KOSMA SMART receiver, a dual-frequency array receiver operating between 460 and 880 GHz, and KOSMA array Acousto Optical Spectrometers AOS as backends. This project is collaboration between universities in Japan (Nagoya University and Osaka Prefecture University), in Germany (University of Cologne and University of Bonn), in South Korea (Seoul National University), and in Chile (University of Chile).
- Publication:
-
Astrochemistry: Recent Successes and Current Challenges
- Pub Date:
- 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005IAUS..231P.275K
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: Magellanic Clouds;
- Galaxy: structure;
- ISM: clouds;
- stars: formation;
- submillimeter;
- surveys;
- telescopes