Pre-HEAT: submillimeter site testing and astronomical spectra from Dome A, Antarctica

• Published in: SPIE Proceedings, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes II
• Main Authors: Kulesa, C. A., Walker, C. K., Schein, M., Golish, D., Tothill, N., Siegel, P., Weinreb, S., Jones, G., Bardin, J., Jacobs, K., Martin, C. L., Storey, J., Ashley, M., Lawrence, J., Luong-Van, D., Everett, J., Wang, L., Feng, L., Zhu, Z., Yan, J., Yang, J., Zhang, X.-G., Cui, X., Yuan, X., Hu, J., Xu, Z., Jiang, Z., Yang, H., Li, Y., Sun, B., Qin, W., Shang, Z.
• Other Authors: Stepp, Larry M., Gilmozzi, Roberto
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) 2008
• Subjects: site testing; Antarctic astronomy; submillimeter instrumentation; terahertz spectroscopy; heterodyne receiver; interstellar medium; star formation; Antarctic; Plato; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Research Institute of China
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789741

Pre-HEAT is a 20 cm aperture submillimeter-wave telescope with a 660 GHz (450 micron) Schottky diode heterodyne receiver and digital FFT spectrometer for the Plateau Observatory (PLATO) developed by the University of New South Wales. In January 2008 it was deployed to Dome A, the summit of the Antarctic plateau, as part of a scientific traverse led by the Polar Research Institute of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dome A may be one of the best sites in the world for ground based Terahertz astronomy, based on the exceptionally cold, dry and stable conditions which prevail there. Pre-HEAT is measuring the 450 micron sky opacity at Dome A and mapping the Galactic Plane in the ^(13)CO J=6-5 line, constituting the first submillimeter measurements from Dome A. It is field-testing many of the key technologies for its namesake -- a successor mission called HEAT: the High Elevation Antarctic Terahertz telescope. Exciting prospects for submillimeter astronomy from Dome A and the status of Pre-HEAT will be presented. © 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). The authors wish to thank all members of the Polar Research Institute of China's 2008 Dome A expedition for their heroic efforts in reaching the summit and for providing invaluable assistance to the expedition astronomers in setting up the PLATO observatory and its attendant instruments. Construction of Pre-HEAT was financially supported from the US National Science Foundation under the auspices of Small Grants for Exploratory Research (ANT-0735854). Published - 701249.pdf