(Radio) Astronomy in Taiwan Jeremy Lim Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), Taiwan Taiwan (22.5 million) Malaysia (23 million)

Growth of Astronomy in Taiwan ASIAA established (1993) “Story of Modern Astronomy in Taiwan is very much the story of ASIAA”  Taiwan only recently became a player in modern astronomy

Why do Astronomy? Forefront Scientific Research  No secrets or patents – Discoveries openly published, Universe available to All  Friendly and Helpful Community: Open (competitive) access to forefront Telescopes Collaborations to build up Research or Instruments/Telescopes  Taiwan Funding Agencies – Academia Sinica, National Science Council, and Ministry of Education Improve Science and Technology  Graduate Education (Astrophysics, Mathematics, Engineering, Computers, …)  Technology transfer to Industry Public Support  Strong Public interest, stimulates Education among all Ages

 Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei (NTU) (10 faculty, ~17 postdocs, ~20 technical, ~15 assistants, ~15 students)  Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University (NCU), Chung-Li(9 faculty, ~20 Masters, ~5 PhD, ~2 postdocs)  Institute of Astrophysics, National Taiwan University (NTU), Taipei (3 faculty, a few students)  Institute of Astronomy, National Tsing-Hua University (NTHU), Tsing-Hua(2 faculty, a few students)  Theoretical Institute for Advanced Research in Astrophysics (TIARA), NTHU-AS initiative (currently housed at ASIAA)  Astronomers on faculty in other University departments Main Astronomy/Astrophysics Institutes/Departments

Main Telescope Research Projects Radio Telescopes  Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii (USA, Taiwan), commissioned  Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) on Mauna Loa, Hawaii (Taiwan, Australia, USA, Canada), under construction  Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) on Atacama, Chile (USA, Europe, Japan), under negotiation with Japan Optical Telescopes  Taiwan-American-Occultation Survey (TAOS) on Lulin mountain, Taiwan (Taiwan, USA, Korea), under construction  WIRCam for CFHT (3.6 m) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii (Canada, France, USA, Korea, Taiwan), under construction “Builder, not just user”

 Partnership between Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and ASIAA  Eight 6-meter antennas located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii (altitude 4080 m)  2 antennas constructed by ASIAA – increases number of baselines from 15 to 28! The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Overview

 Partnership between Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and ASIAA  Eight 6-meter antennas located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii (altitude 4080 m)  2 antennas constructed by ASIAA – increases number of baselines from 15 to 28! The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Overview Hangar for Assembly Control Room

 Receivers at 1.3 mm (270 GHz), 0.8 mm (345 GHz), and 0.4 mm (690 GHz) The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Operating Bands

 Constructed and Assembled in Taiwan in partnership with Industry  Mount constructed by China Shipbuilding Company (CSBC) in Keelung The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Mount & Reflector

 Constructed and Assembled in Taiwan in partnership with Industry  Carbon-Fiber Reinforced Plastic Tubes for Reflector Backup Structure constructed by NITE (bicycle company) in Taichung The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Mount & Reflector

 Constructed and Assembled in Taiwan in partnership with Industry  Antenna Mechanical/Electrical Assembly by Aeronautic Research Laboratory (ARL) in Taichung The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Mount & Reflector

 Establishment of a Receiver Laboratory at ASIAA  All Receiver Systems assembled/tested by ASIAA Receiver Laboratory The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Receiver Systems

 Developing expertise to make Low-Noise Junctions for Receivers  690 GHz SiS (Nb/SiO 2 ) junction fabricated at ASIAA and National Tsing-Hua University (NTHU) The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Junctions

 Array commissioned in November 2003  General Purpose Astronomical Research: Solar System – Planetary Atmospheres Galactic Astronomy – Star Formation, Evolved Stars, Planetary Nebulae Extragalactic Astronomy – Dust and Interstellar Medium, Relativistic Jets The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Science

 Science Program: Molecular Gas in Messier 51 (a nearby active galaxy) The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Science SMA: 12 CO GHz

 Science Program: Motion of Molecular Gas in M51 The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Science SMA: 12 CO GHz

 Science Programs: Feeding the Central Supermassive Black Hole in M51 The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Science 12 CO GHz Sakamoto et al. (1999)

The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Science SMA: 12 CO GHz  Science Programs: Feeding the Central Supermassive Black Hole in M51

The Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA) − Science SMA: 12 CO GHz  Science Programs: Feeding the Central Supermassive Black Hole in M51

 Local Partners ASIAA and National Taiwan University (NTU)  Measure polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background at 3 mm (90 GHz)  Search for distant Galaxy Clusters from Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect at 3 mm, as tracer of Large-Scale Structure of the Universe Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) observing frequency CMB modified by SZ effect CMB

 Measurement of SZ-effect with Owens Valley Radio Observatory Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) X-ray Contours Radio False-Color X-ray Contours X-ray False-Color X-ray Contours Optical False-Color Patel et al. (2000)

 AMiBA Prototype (2 x 30 cm) dishes on Mauna Loa, Hawaii (2002)  Hardware Testing and Trouble-Shooting, Astronomy Test Observations Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) Fringes on Moon Two-element Prototype

 AMiBA to be deployed in 2004 (starting with 7 elements, 0.6 – 2.4 m dishes) Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA)

Taiwan-American-Occultation Survey (TAOS)  Local Partners ASIAA and National Central University (NCU)  Determine size distribution of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) Discovery of first KBO Jewiit & Luu (1993) The Solar System

Taiwan-American-Occultation Survey (TAOS)  Only KBOs ≥ 100 km detectable by even the largest optical telescopes  TAOS able to detect KBOs ≥ 2 km by occultation of Background Stars

Taiwan-American-Occultation Survey (TAOS)  Instrument: Four 20 inch (50 cm) telescopes on Lulin Mountain, Taiwan

Taiwan-American-Occultation Survey (TAOS)  Test observation: Occultation of Background Star by a known Asteroid 1 Frame (0.2 s)

Astronomy in Taiwan: A Strong Growth Phase  Strong Growth anticipated for TIARA, NTU, and NTHU  ASIAA, with ~70 members currently, continues to expand to meet challenge of ALMA and other projects  Active Recruitment of Astronomers, Astrophysicists, Physicists, Engineers, and Computer Scientists (hardware and software)  Positions advertised in Physics Today and Job Register of American Astronomical Society  For more Information, please contact: Jeremy Lim (Chair, Postdoc Committee) Sun Kwok (Director, Executive Committee)