Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 399, Issue 2, Pages 1026-1043Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15347.x
Keywords
instrumentation: detectors; instrumentation: spectrographs; methods: observational; techniques: image processing; techniques: spectroscopic; submillimetre
Categories
Funding
- Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
- National Research Council of Canada
- STFC [ST/G002851/1, ST/G002916/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/G002916/1, ST/G002851/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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This paper describes a new Heterodyne Array Receiver Program (HARP) and Auto-Correlation Spectral Imaging System (ACSIS) that have recently been installed and commissioned on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. 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 similar to 120 K across the whole band, and system temperatures of similar to 300 K are reached routinely under good weather conditions. The system includes a single-sideband (SSB) filter so these are SSB values. 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 1 deg(2) size can be observed in under 1 h. 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 widefield continuum studies and produce the essential preparatory work for submillimetre interferometers such as the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA).
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