The AST/RO Survey of the Galactic Center Region

• Main Author: Antony A. Stark
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Amundsen Scott South Pole Station; Amundsen-Scott; Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station; Antarctic; Milky Way; South Pole; The Antarctic; Antarc*; South pole
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.255.8073; http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0309004v1.pdf

Abstract. AST/RO is a 1.7m diameter submillimeter-wave telescope at the geographic South Pole. A key AST/RO project is the mapping of C I and CO J = 4 → 3 and J = 7 → 6 emission from the inner Milky Way (Martin et al. 2003). These data are released for general use. The Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory (AST/RO) is a 1.7 m diameter single-dish instrument which has been observing in the submillimeter-wave atmospheric windows for eight years (Stark et al. 2001, Stark 2003). Essential to AST/RO’s capabilities is its location at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, an exceptionally cold, dry site which has unique logistical opportunities and challenges. Observing time on AST/RO is available on a proposal basis. The distribution of molecular gas in the Galaxy is known from extensive and on-going surveys in CO and 13 CO J = 1 → 0 and J = 2 → 1; these are spectral lines which trace molecular gas. These lines alone do not, however, determine the excitation temperature, density, or cooling rate of that gas. Observations