A Cornell-led science team is preparing a new telescope high in Chile's Atacama Desert for its first observations, a step toward studying galaxy clusters, the early universe and the Milky Way with instruments built in part in Ithaca.
The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope has completed construction, according to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. Researchers are fitting its initial scientific instruments, including Cornell-led Prime-Cam, before the telescope begins producing research data. Cornell has not announced a first-light date.
Cornell instrument heads to high-altitude site
Prime-Cam and a second instrument called mini-CHAI are the first scientific devices being installed on the telescope, known as FYST. The telescope stands about 18,400 feet above sea level near Cerro Chajnantor, where the thin, extremely dry air helps scientists detect faint submillimeter light from space.
Cornell shipped Prime-Cam and its supporting equipment to Chile in June in two 40-foot containers. The shipment included a cleanroom to protect sensitive detectors and optics from dust and wind at the mountaintop site. The equipment arrived July 30, and a test fitting began in August.
Michael Niemack, a Cornell professor of physics and astronomy who leads the Prime-Cam team, said installation is expected to take about four weeks after the telescope's commissioning. The instrument would then need roughly two more weeks to cool its detectors close to absolute zero so its own heat does not mask faint signals.
Prime-Cam has seven modules with three detector arrays per module. Thousands of detectors fit on each silicon wafer, giving the camera tens of thousands of detectors in all. Cornell describes it as the largest submillimeter instrument yet built.
Early observations and research goals
The team plans to begin by observing planets in our solar system to calibrate the instruments, Niemack said. Early science measurements would then turn to galaxy clusters, enormous groups of galaxies held together by gravity.
Researchers also plan surveys of the cosmic microwave background, the oldest light in the universe; the infrared glow associated with galaxy formation; and emissions from gas and dust within the Milky Way. Each survey uses submillimeter wavelengths to examine phenomena that visible-light telescopes may miss.
One planned survey will map large-scale emissions from carbon monoxide and ionized carbon to study the era when the first stars and galaxies formed. Another will measure hot gas around galaxy clusters to help scientists understand how those structures developed.
Cornell astronomer Nicholas Battaglia said the team has been running simulations and testing scanning techniques and detectors before observations begin. A newly hired postdoctoral researcher, Ankur Dev, will work on the data-analysis pipelines needed to turn the instruments' measurements into maps.
International partnership brings second instrument
Scientists at the University of Cologne designed and built mini-CHAI, which Cornell said was headed to Chile and expected to arrive in mid-November. It is a precursor to a larger instrument that will study the chemical fingerprints of interstellar matter in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.
The telescope is operated by CCAT Observatory, a partnership involving Cornell, German and Canadian university groups and Duke University, with cooperation from institutions in Chile. It is named for Cornell alumnus Fred Young, who supported the project and said the observatory will provide research and student opportunities for years to come.
For now, researchers are still preparing the instruments rather than reporting completed science observations. The first calibration runs and surveys will test whether the telescope and cameras perform as planned in the demanding high-altitude environment.
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