Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica
The thermal emission from a cold, dense molecular cloud peaks in the far IR, and the spectrum is rich in molecular lines in the submillimetre and millimetre bands. Observation of these bands is hindered, however, by atmospheric water vapour, which absorbs the incoming radiation. Ground-based mm obse...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1996
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1323358000020804 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1323358000020804 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s1323358000020804 2023-05-15T14:09:08+02:00 Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica Burton, Michael 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1323358000020804 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1323358000020804 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia volume 13, issue 2, page 189-189 ISSN 1323-3580 1448-6083 Space and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics journal-article 1996 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s1323358000020804 2022-04-07T08:55:18Z The thermal emission from a cold, dense molecular cloud peaks in the far IR, and the spectrum is rich in molecular lines in the submillimetre and millimetre bands. Observation of these bands is hindered, however, by atmospheric water vapour, which absorbs the incoming radiation. Ground-based mm observations from Australia, where the atmospheric water vapour content typically contains ~10 mm precipitable (ppt) H 2 O, can only probe a few of the molecular transitions from the heavier molecules, such as CO, CS, HCO + and HCN. Sub-mm observations would enable the higher rotational lines from many of these molecules to be studied, and open up other spectral features to scrutiny, such as the lines from hydrides (e.g. CaH, NH, SH) and neutral carbon at 370 and 610 μ m. However, they cannot be made from Australia. While sites such as Mauna Kea, which has ~1 mm ppt H 2 O on the best days, open the sub-mm band to partial viewing, their utility is limited in comparison to the opportunities possible from the Antarctic Plateau. Here the column of H 2 O drops to 100–250 μ m. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) Antarctic The Antarctic Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 13 2 189 189 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Space and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics |
spellingShingle |
Space and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics Burton, Michael Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Space and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics |
description |
The thermal emission from a cold, dense molecular cloud peaks in the far IR, and the spectrum is rich in molecular lines in the submillimetre and millimetre bands. Observation of these bands is hindered, however, by atmospheric water vapour, which absorbs the incoming radiation. Ground-based mm observations from Australia, where the atmospheric water vapour content typically contains ~10 mm precipitable (ppt) H 2 O, can only probe a few of the molecular transitions from the heavier molecules, such as CO, CS, HCO + and HCN. Sub-mm observations would enable the higher rotational lines from many of these molecules to be studied, and open up other spectral features to scrutiny, such as the lines from hydrides (e.g. CaH, NH, SH) and neutral carbon at 370 and 610 μ m. However, they cannot be made from Australia. While sites such as Mauna Kea, which has ~1 mm ppt H 2 O on the best days, open the sub-mm band to partial viewing, their utility is limited in comparison to the opportunities possible from the Antarctic Plateau. Here the column of H 2 O drops to 100–250 μ m. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Burton, Michael |
author_facet |
Burton, Michael |
author_sort |
Burton, Michael |
title |
Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica |
title_short |
Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica |
title_full |
Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Millimetre Astronomy and Antarctica |
title_sort |
millimetre astronomy and antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1323358000020804 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1323358000020804 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_source |
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia volume 13, issue 2, page 189-189 ISSN 1323-3580 1448-6083 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1323358000020804 |
container_title |
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
189 |
op_container_end_page |
189 |
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1766281143393452032 |