Abstract
Once the first larger mm telescopes had demonstrated the importance of the very high frequencies for astrophysical research, efforts were undertaken to open up the submillimetre-wavelength regime, i.e. frequencies from 300 GHz to 1 GHz or higher. From the best sites on earth, observations are possible up to about 1 GHz in the windows between the absorption lines of tropospheric water vapour (Fig. 6.1). Several institutes realised dedicated submm telescopes between 1987 and 1995, the three most significant being the JCMT and the CSO on Hawaii and the SMT/HHT on Mt. Graham in Arizona. An array of eight 6-m antennas, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) on Hawaii came into operation in 2004 (Ho et al. 2004). The definitive instrument is ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submm Array), consisting of more than 60 antennas located at 5000 m altitude in northern Chile and covering the entire frequency range from 30 to 950 GHz. It began operation with a partial array in 2008 and construction was completed in 2014.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Baars, J.W.M., Martin, R.N., Mangum, J.G., McMullin, J.P., Peters, W.L.: The Heinrich Hertz Telescope and the submillimeter telescope observatory. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific. 111, 627–646 (1999)
Baars, J.W.M., Lucas, R., Mangum, J.G., Lopez-Perez, J.A.: Near-field radio holography of large reflector antennas. IEEE Antennas Propag. Mag. 49(5), 24–41 (2007)
Bregman, J.D., Casse, J.L.: A simulation of the thermal behaviour of the UK-NL mm wave telescope. Int. J. Infrared mm Waves. 6, 25 (1985)
Greve, A., Mangum, J.G.: Mechanical measurements of the ALMA prototype antennas. IEEE Antennas Propag. Mag. 50(2), 66 (2008)
Guilloteau, S., et al.: The IRAM interferometer on Plateau de Bure. Astron. Astrophys. 262, 624–633 (1992)
Ho, P.T.P., Moran, J.M., Lo, K.Y.: The submillimeter array. Astrophys. J. 616, L1 (2004)
Iguchi, S., Morita, K., Sugimoto, M., Vila Vilaró, B., Saito, M., Hasegawa, T., Kawabe, R., Tatematsu, K., Sakamoto, S., Kiuchi, H., Okumura, S.K., Kosugi, G., Inatani, J., Takakuwa, S., Iono, D., Kamazaki, T., Ogasawara, R., Ishiguro, M.: The Atacama Compact Array (ACA). Publ. Astron. Soc. Jpn. 61, 1–12 (2009)
Laing, R.: The performance of the European ALMA antennas. 36th ESA Antenna Workshop (2015)
Leighton, R.B.: A 10-meter telescope for millimeter and sub-millemeter astronomy. Technical Report of California Institute of Technology (May 1978)
Mäder, H.F., Stenvers, K.-H., Gatzlaff, H., Wilms, H.-F.: The 10-m submillimeter-wave telescope. Technische Mittelungen Krupp (Eng.) 1, 27–42 (1990)
Mangum, J.G.: The performance of the North American ALMA antennas. 36th ESA Antenna Workshop (2015)
Mangum, J.G., Baars, J.W.M., Greve, A., Lucas, R., Snel, R.C., Wallace, P., Holdaway, M.: Evaluation of the ALMA prototype antennas. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific. 118, 1257–1301 (2006)
Serabyn, E., Phillips, T.G., Masson, C.R.: Surface figure measurements of radio telescopes with a shearing interferometer. Appl. Opt. 30, 1227–1241 (1991)
Snel, R.C., Mangum, J.G., Baars, J.W.M.: Study of the dynamics of large reflector antennas with accelerometers. IEEE Antennas Propag. Mag. 49(4), 84–101 (2007)
Stenvers, K.-H., Wilms, H.-F.: Entwicklung und Optimierung eines tragenden CFK-Raumfachwerks für astronomische Teleskope. VDI-Berichte. 734, 75–92 (1989)
Woody, D., Vail, D., Schaal, W.: Design parameters and measured performance of the Leighton 10.4-m-diameter radio telescopes. Proc. IEEE. 82, 673–686 (1994)
Woody, D.P., et al.: CARMA: a new heterogeneous millimeter-wave interferometer. Proc. SPIE Millimeter Submillimeter Detect. Astron. II. 5498, 30 (2004)
Wootten, A., Thompson, A.R.: The Atacama large millimeter/submillimeter array. Proc. IEEE. 97, 1463–1471 (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baars, J.W.M., Kärcher, H.J. (2018). Submillimetre-Wavelength Telescopes. In: Radio Telescope Reflectors. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 447. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65148-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65148-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65147-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65148-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)