Calibrating ZEUS-2 to Study Star Formation in the Early Universe
Abstract
The Second-Generation redshift (z) and Early Universe Spectrometer (ZEUS-2) is a submillimeter grating spectrometer optimized to detect far-IR fine-structure lines in high redshift galaxies. These far-IR fine-structure emerge from the interstellar medium (ISM) and are good probes for the stellar radiation field (and thus stellar age) and the gas density in these galaxies, allowing us to study their physical conditions during the epoch of maximum star formation density in the Universe. We made laboratory observations of the rotational transitions of CO J=7-6 and J=13-12 lines across the 400 μm and 200 μm arrays respectively in order to improve the grating calibration (grating angle vs spectral dispersion along detector pixels). So far, we have opened up for new science in the 200 μm telluric window, and ZEUS-2 is undergoing further calibrations and updates in preparation for observations in 2019 on APEX for the first time since the telescope’s 10 μm resurfacing.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23314620T