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| Further information about the [[..:history:history]] of the CSO. | Further information about the [[..:history:history]] of the CSO. | ||
| - | ==== Characteristics ==== | + | ====== Characteristics ====== |
| | Observing wavelengths: | 2mm — 350 μm | | | Observing wavelengths: | 2mm — 350 μm | | ||
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| | | at 4070 m (13360 ft) altitude | | | | 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). | ||
