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--- cso:science:overview [2013-09-07 03:18]
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+====== Overview ======
+The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) is one of the world's premier facilities for astronomical research and instrumentation development.
+With the CSO, astronomers from all over the world observe light naturally emitted by celestial objects at submillimeter wavelengths.
+This spectral range, between infrared and radio, is particularly suited to studying the molecular gases and small solid dust particles
+that fill the densest regions of the interstellar medium, where stars form as gas clouds contract and collapse under the pull of
+gravity. Star formation is best studied in the submillimeter and infrared because interstellar dust absorbs light at shorter wavelengths.
+Near the end of their lives, certain stars eject copious amounts of material, forming circumstellar envelopes with a rich assortment
+of molecules. Submillimeter observations of galaxies outside the Milky Way trace the history of star formation during the evolution
+of the universe. Light from the most distant galaxy observed with the CSO was emitted 12 billion years ago.
+The telescope was designed by Prof. Robert B. Leighton and built at Caltech by Leighton and Prof. Thomas G. Phillips, the founding
+CSO director.
+The CSO was installed on Maunakea in 1985-7.
+Eighty four lightweight hexagonal aluminum honeycomb
+panels make up the primary mirror. An active system aligns these panels to maintain the smooth surface needed for submillimeter
+observations. Spectrometers and cameras at the CSO use detectors developed at Caltech and other universities. For maximum
+sensitivity, these detectors are cooled close to absolute zero temperature. New instruments are deployed as detector technology
+advances. Because atmospheric water vapor absorbs submillimeter radiation, the CSO is located high on Maunakea to take advantage
+of the very dry conditions. Most observations are made at night when the atmosphere is driest and most stable. As a university facility,
+the CSO has a strong educational tradition: over 100 students from 25 institutions have used the CSO for doctoral research projects.
+The [[http://www.caltech.edu|California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) operates the CSO. The CSO is located on [[http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/|Maunakea]] through an agreement with the [[http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu|University of Hawai'i]]. The [[http://www.nsf.gov|National Science Foundation]] supported the CSO until 2013 March. Prof. [[http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~golwala/|Sunil Golwala]] is the director of the CSO.
+Further information about the [[..:history:history]] of the CSO.
+====== Characteristics ======
+| Observing wavelengths:  | 2mm — 350 μm  |
+| Primary mirror diameter:  | 10.4 m (34 feet) |
+| Surface accuracy:  | < 15 μm r.m.s.  |
+| Pointing accuracy:  | 3 arcsec r.m.s.  |
+| Highest angular resolution:  | 8 arcseconds  |
+| Location:  | Maunakea, Hawai'i,  |
+|  | at 4070 m (13360 ft) altitude  |
+====== CSO Scientific Achievements ======
+  * Development of superconducting-tunnel-junction detectors and spiderweb bolometers for radio astronomy, now commonly used on ground- and space-based radio observatories (ALMA, CARMA, Herschel, Planck), as well as the first astronomical demonstrations of an emerging new technology, kinetic inductance detectors.
+  * Determination of the role of atomic carbon in the interstellar medium.
+  * Detection of the submillimeter “line forest” using the line-survey technique, as well as of key hydride molecules, which has led to an improved understanding of interstellar chemistry.
+  * Discovery of a new phase of stellar evolution for red giant stars, which occurs just before they completely lose their envelope of gas during the formation of planetary nebulae.
+  * Mapping of the molecular gas of the radio galaxy Centaurus A, among others.
+  * Determination of the volatile composition of comets, including the first ground-based detection of HDO (heavy water) in a comet, leading to an improved understanding of the origin of comets and of terrestrial water
+  * Discovery of ND3, a rare type of ammonia, with emission about 11 orders of magnitude stronger than initially presumed.
+  * Discovery of signs of intermittent turbulence in interstellar molecular clouds.
+  * Use of tools such as the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera (SHARC) to image distant, dusty galaxies that are difficult to observe with optical telescopes.
+  * Spatially resolved imaging of nearby stellar debris disks, using SHARC, providing evidence for the presence of planets in these systems.
+  * Spectroscopy of distant and local galaxies using the Z-Spec spectrometer—developed at CSO—which has helped yield a better understanding of the processes of galaxy formation and provides a method for measuring galaxies that are too dusty to be seen with optical instruments.
+  * Mapping of the pressure in the gaseous component of massive galaxy clusters via its interaction with the cosmic microwave background (the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect).
+  * The first detection of the change in the cosmic microwave background caused by its interaction with the gaseous component of a high-speed subclump within a massive galaxy cluster (the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect).