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Proposal Information
Caltech community
Members of the Caltech community* are invited to propose observations with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory.
The CSO consists of a 10.4 m diameter Leighton telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. With active adjustment, the surface accuracy is about 13 µm rms.
A full complement of heterodyne receivers covers the atmospheric windows from 177 to 920 GHz. New receivers for the 230 GHz and 460 GHz bands have 4 GHz IF bandwidths and fully automated (synthesized) local oscillator tuning. Older receivers, with 1 GHz IF bandwidths, are available for the 345 GHz, 650 GHz, and 850 GHz atmospheric windows. DSB receiver noise temperatures are about 40 K at 230 GHz; 50 K or 90 K at 345 GHz, depending on receiver; 40 K at 460 GHz; 230 K at 650 GHz; and 400 K at 850 GHz. Two FFTS spectrometers are available. The high-resolution FFTS1 provides 8192 channels across a selectable bandwidth of 1 GHz or 500 MHz, which is tunable across the 4 GHz IF band. The new wide-band FFTS2 provides 16384 channels across the full 4 GHz IF band. In addition, an acousto-optic spectrometer provides 6100 channels across 4 GHz.
Bolocam is the CSO’s existing millimeter-wave camera, with ≈115 functional detectors in an 8 arcmin field of view and an instantaneous sensitivity at 1.1 mm of 100–200 mJy s0.5 depending on weather and aggressiveness of filtering. Bolocam is mounted at the Cassegrain focus and is available in raster scan and Lissajous observing modes. An existing public analysis pipeline is available for data reduction. Bolocam has been used for photometry and surveys of dusty, star-forming galaxies and star-forming regions in our own Galaxy (including the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey).
SHARC II is a 12×32 pixel bolometer camera for 350 and 450 μm. In good weather, its sensitivity is about 1 Jy/beam s0.5 over a 2.5 x 0.9 arcmin field of view.
A polarimeter, SHARP, allows polarimetry at 350 µm in conjunction with SHARC II. Proposals for SHARP will be considered provided they do not request sources that overlap the instrument team's survey of low-mass Class 0 cores. Proposers are encouraged to contact the instrument PI, Giles Novak g-novak@northwestern.edu to explore collaborative arrangements.
Other instruments, namely MUSIC, a 7 arcmin field of view camera with bands at 850 um, 1.0 mm, 1.3 mm, and 2.0 mm, and the Z-Spec low-resolution spectrometer, may become available later during the year.
Investigators normally travel to the telescope for their observations. For safety, two (or more) persons must be present at the telescope whenever anyone is there. Although the CSO does not have telescope operators, CSO staff will provide orientation and limited training for novice observers. University of Hawaii at Hilo undergraduate volunteers are sometimes available to assist with observations. Proposals for remote observing will also be entertained, subject some restrictions.
Observers are responsible for travel to Hale Pohaku and for lodging and subsistence there. Subject to Caltech policies, CSO 4WD vehicles are provided for transport between HP and the telescope. Depending on availability, CSO vehicles may be available for Caltech staff to travel between Hilo and HP. Observers should expect to contribute to the costs of cryogens, and when necessary, travel by instrument support personnel.
Proposals for observations during 2013 will be considered starting April 15. Proposals should include an abstract and scientific justification. Proposals should also justify the proposer's ability to reduce the data with the publicly available tools and/or via collaborative arrangements with experienced CSO observers or relevant instrument team members. Please use the CSO proposal template. In addition, please list (1) publications by any proposal investigators using CSO data since 2010; (2) all students and postdocs who have used the CSO since 2010; and (3) students who have obtained a PhD using the CSO. Send proposals to Simon Radford, CSO Operations Manager sradford@caltech.edu. Proposals will be reviewed by the CSO director and an advisory committee.
The CSO web pages have more information about the telescope and instrumentation, including atmospheric transmission spectra, and the CSO proposal template. Please address any questions to Simon Radford, CSO Operations Manager sradford@caltech.edu.
Eligibility
Caltech faculty, students, and staff may propose CSO observations in response to this call.
Members of the IPAC and JPL staff will be invited to submit proposals through a separate, future call for JPL proposals.
