Title: Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawai'i This short movie was produced to give an introduction of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. -Caltech Submillimeter Observatory "catching small waves on the big island" This is a catch phrase that the CSO had been using since 80's, created by Dr. Walter Steiger. -owned and operated by Caltech (California Institute of Technology) funded by the National Science Foundation Our operational costs have been fully funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from the beginning. -The observatory was designed and built by physicists Drs. R.B. Leighton and T.G. Phillips. The following picture captures Drs. Leighton and Phillips in the 80's examining the main reflector of the telescope. Dr. Leighton was the one who designed the telescope. -The first light of the telescope was achieved in 1986. After a series of struggles, finally the CSO achieved its first light in 1986. Dr. Ken H. Young was one of the people who were operating the telescope to get the first light. -Caltech Submillimeter Observatory owns the 10.4m Leighton telescope. The main reflector of the telescope consists of 84 segments of hexagons. The hexagon structure helped the observatory to achieve improved surface accuracy of the large 10.4 m main reflector using the Dish Surface Optimization System (DSOS). (More information about DSOS is on the web at http://www.cso.caltech.edu/dsos/DSOS_MLeong.html ) The hexagon concept was later followed by the Keck telescopes. -Going into the telescope --- The telescope and some instruments In the following movie, you'll see two heterodyne receivers (one is being cooled using Liquid Helium with a plume coming out a tube following a cryogen transfer) on a Cassegrain focus and two instruments on a Nasmyth focus (one of the instruments is being serviced by Allen Guyer, a CSO staff member who has been working at the observatory since the 80's. -Going into the sidecab receiver room In this room we have four heterodyne receivers with two dewars to make spectroscopic observations in the frequency range 190 GHz to 720 GHz (in wavelength 416 micron to 1578 micron). Using these instruments, one can study temperature, density, and motion of cold molecular clouds in the interstellar region or in the circumstellar medium associated with evolved stars. -Backend system for heterodyne receivers The first picture shows the 4 to 8 GHz IF processor that processes the signals detected from astronomical objects. The second picture shows one of our spectrometer, called FFTS (Fast Fourier Transform Spectrometer). Observers can choose the bandwidth of either 1GHz or 500 MHz. It has 8192 channels for each bandwidth mode. The FFTS was made and provided by a group at Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. -Looking at the telescope from the 3rd floor From the 3rd floor, one can view a few instruments mounted on the telescope, the backup structure of the main reflector, the main reflector, the subreflector, and the feedlegs that support the subreflector. One can also view the internal structure of the dome of the telescope. -ZRex (230 GHz Band) and 850 GHz Rx (Receiver) ZRex is a very wideband 230 GHz band heterodyne receiver (IF bandwidth of 4 to 18 GHz) and a 850 GHz band heterodyne receiver. The first picture shows the distribution of CO molecular gas associated with the Helix nebula displayed by the color contours, overlaid on an infrared image of the nebula. The data were taken using one of our seven heterodyne receivers. The Helix nebula is an example of dying star. Using the CSO, astronomers can study how stars die at the end of their lives. The CSO can catch the scenes that cannot be observed in other wavelengths. The second picture is a scan of a very wide 850 GHz band spectrum taken towards a central region of massive star formation in Orion using the 850 GHz receiver mentioned above. One can see hundreds of lines detected in this spectrum. Lots of molecular lines are captured. -Barney (345 GHz Wide Band Receiver) Barney is a 345 GHz wide band heterodyne receiver (the IF of 4 to 8 GHz). The first picture shows the receiver and the electronics with Jacob Kooi, who designed and built the receiver. The second picture is a first-light spectrum, achieved in March 2006. http://www.cso.caltech.edu/outreach/kiosk/news2006/wideband345rx/index.html -Bolocam (1.1mm & 2.1mm Camera) Bolocam is a millimeter-wave camera at the CSO. It has 115 working pixels with 8 arcminutes field of view at 1.1 mm. Details are found at http://www.cso.caltech.edu/bolocam/ The first picture shows the instrument. The second picture shows a Bolocam 1.1 mm image of W49, taken as part of a large Galactic plane survey program. -Z Spec: a broadband millimeter-wave spectrometer Z-Spec is a broadband (195 - 310 GHz), direct-detection, millimeter-wave spectrometer with moderate resolution (R 350) that was built to observe multi carbon monoxide (CO) rotational transitions and atomic fine-structure lines in the recently discovered population of submillimeter galaxies. http://www.submm.caltech.edu/~bradford/publications/Z-Spec_SPIE02.pdf The first picture shows the instrument. Following two pictures show two spectra taken with the instrument towards NGC253 (a starburst galaxy, from Lieko Earle's Ph.D. thesis at Univ of Colorado) and Cloverleaf (a quadruply lensed quasar). If astronomers use this instrument, they can get this wide band spectrum at once. As you see from the spectrum from Cloverleaf, astronomers took transitions from 6-5 up to 9-8 transitions of CO at once! -SHARCII (350/450/850 micron Camera) SHARCII is our submillimeter camera for 350/450/850 micron bands. It has 384 pixels with about 2 x 1 arcminutes of field of view at 350 micron band. The first picture shows the instrument. The second picture is a SHARCII 350 micron image of Antennae, a colliding system of two galaxies. -SHARCII Polarimeter SHARP SHARP was built to make polarimetry observation using SHARCII. The first picture shows four boxes of the optics of the instrument installed in front of the SHARCII instrument. The second picture shows magnetic field vectors measured towards nearby massive star forming region Orion using the instrument. Using the instrument, astronomers can capture the structure of interstellar magnetic field and the connection with the process of star formation. -ZEUS: The High-Redshift (Z) Early Universe Spectrometer ZEUS is a broadband spectrometer designed to work at 650 - 850 GHz range (350 - 460 micron). The instrument was built to measure various atomic and molecular lines at the submillimeter-wave range emitted from high-redshift galaxies. More details can be found on the web at http://www.cso.caltech.edu/outreach/kiosk/news2009/zeus2009/index.html The first picture shows the instrument with Gordon Stacy and Thomas Nikola in the ZEUS team. The second picture shows a line spectrum of [CII] taken towards one of the high redshift galaxies MIPS J142824.0 +352619. -Working with other telescopes: The Extended Submillimeter Array The Extended Submillimeter Array (eSMA) is a heterogeneous array (interferometer) that combines the signals detected with the telescopes from three different observatories, CSO, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and Submillimeter Array (SMA). The first picture is a picture of CSO and JCMT. The second picture is a picture of SMA. The third picture is an artwork image of the composite big telescope that the eSMA forms to spatially resolve the fine detailed features of various astronomical objects. The effective diameter of the telescope becomes up to 782 meters. -Going into the observing control room At the CSO, astronomers who submitted proposals will come and observe their targets by themselves. When astronomers observe, they'll come to the observatory before the sunset and start observation after the sunset. Credit: Movie Richard Chamberlin Photos Ray S. Furuya, Jacob Kooi, Hiroko Shinnaga Helix Nebular Image Ken H. (Taco) Young ZSpec Cloverleaf Spectrum Matt Bradford Bolocam Image Jason Glen and Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey Team SHARC II Image C. Darren Dowell SHARP Photo Giles Novak ZEUS Photo Thomas Nikola, Gordon Stacy eSMA The big telescope Brian Force eSMA PKS1830 Image Sandrine Bottineli eSMA IRC+10216 Image Hiroko Shinnaga Music Ravel 'Bolero' This video was directed by H.S. There are other instruments and results that couldn't be included in this video. For more complete information and for more detailed information about the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, please find them on the web at http://www.submm.caltech.edu/cso/ http://www.cso.caltech.edu/outreach/kiosk/newresults_cso.html http://www.cso.caltech.edu/index.html Thank you for viewing this video! last edited on 2009/03/13