1. A Submillimeter and CMBR Observatory for the South Pole
Antony A. Stark
Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics
10 November 1998
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2. Toward a large single-dish user facility at the South Pole
Current status of submillimeter and CMBR operations at Pole
Site testing results
The proposed South Pole 10m telescope
The SP 10 in the context of modern astronomy 1
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3. A large, wide-field single-dish submillimeter-wave telescope, operating as a user-facility instrument on the Antarctic plateau, is uniquely capable of significant advances in observational cosmology and studies of protogalaxies and protostars. 2
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4. South Pole Station
occupies a square mile surrounding the geographic South Pole
population: 210 people November-February, 35 people February-October
~250 flights per year of LC130 aircraft, each ~16 tons
SPSM (South Pole Station Modernization) in progress, completion in 2004
Research support
150 to 300 KW electrical power supplied continuously for science
10,000 liters LHe each year
3500 m2 heated laboratory space
intermittent internet and TDRSS communications 3
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5. Cosmic Microwave Background Studies
current projects are 3rd generation
Bell Labs, UCSB, White Dish
Python I-VI
Viper and DASI
excellent results obtained at 1° to 3° angular scales
progress requires move to smaller scales and higher frequency (/D < 310-4  D > 3 m)
measurement of acoustic peak
separation of primary and secondary anisotropy
SZ effect always significant at small scales
requires high frequency & high sensitivity (best possible site)
measurement of SZ velocity effect, velocity dispersion of clusters
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6. 4 AST/RO Operations 4th year of continuous operation
just completed 1st year as a user facility
summer maintenance and upgrades
20 astronomers and engineers, typical 3 week visit
winter operations
1 winter-over scientist
operational over 85% of time for astronomy 4
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7. Submillimeter-wave site testing
South Pole is world’s best-characterized submm site
South Pole weather
annual average temperature –49C, low –82C
median winter PWV = 0.22 mm
no high winds, no rain, no dust, no bugs
better than Mauna Kea, Chajnantor in sub-mm opacity (but comparable in mm opacity)
identical long-term sub-mm projects (at high source elevation) proceed 110 faster than MK, 4.5 faster than Chajnantor
sky noise (variations in sky emissivity) very low
water vapor less dominant source of opacity than at other sites 5
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8. Considerations for for future Submillimeter-wave telescopes
SP station infrastructure cannot support a large array
case for single-dish
success of SCUBA
large (~104 element) bolometer arrays are under development
intrinsically high bandwidth, low noise
low parts count per pixel
diameters of 10 m (passive) to 30 m (active) possible at Pole
large focal plane arrays require large field of view
new type of sub-mm telescope
offset Gregorian can be designed for both wide-field sub-mm and CMBR use 6
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9. Conclusion
large single-dish sub-mm and CMBR user-facility telescope, operated by an international consortium, is possible at South Pole
sensitive, wide-field sub-mm imager
“finder scope” for MMA
large-scale statistics of sub-mm background radiation
high frequency CMBR at l ~ 103, velocity dispersion of clusters
ongoing SPSM construction makes an immanent decision desirable
approval soon would allow coordination with SPSM, completion of telescope construction soon after completion of SPSM
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