Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope
Encyclopedia
The Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT) is a proposed 25-metre telescope that is intended to reveal the cosmic origins of stars, planets, and galaxies with its submillimeter
cameras and spectrometers enabled by the superconducting detector arrays. Submillimeter is a type of microwave radiation that is closest to infrared
in the light spectrum. Situated at a planned altitude of 5612 meters on Cerro Chajnantor
in northern Chile, CCAT would be one of the highest permanent, ground-based telescopes in the world.
The telescope is to be outfitted with a wide-field camera that is expected to map the sky 1000 times faster and with better resolution than than the SCUBA-2
camera installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
in Hawaii.
Of the universities participating in the 140 million dollar CCAT project, 2 are from Germany, 4 from the USA, and at least 7 from Canada.
Construction is projected to begin in 2013 and be completed in 2017. The telescope is intended to complement the Atacama Large Millimeter Array
(ALMA), by discovering new sources that ALMA will follow up with highly detailed imagery.
Submillimetre astronomy
Submillimetre astronomy or submillimeter astronomy is the branch of observational astronomy that is conducted at submillimetre wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Astronomers place the submillimetre waveband between the far-infrared and microwave wavebands, typically taken to be between a...
cameras and spectrometers enabled by the superconducting detector arrays. Submillimeter is a type of microwave radiation that is closest to infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
in the light spectrum. Situated at a planned altitude of 5612 meters on Cerro Chajnantor
Purico Complex
The Purico Complex is a pyroclastic shield located in the eastern part of the Atacama desert in Chile's II Region , approximately south of the Bolivia - Chile border...
in northern Chile, CCAT would be one of the highest permanent, ground-based telescopes in the world.
The telescope is to be outfitted with a wide-field camera that is expected to map the sky 1000 times faster and with better resolution than than the SCUBA-2
SCUBA-2 All Sky Survey
The SCUBA-2 All-Sky Survey , is a major astronomical experiment using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii. A team of around 50 astronomers from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Netherlands, and Japan aim to map a huge swathe of the sky to find rare galaxies and stars being...
camera installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is a submillimetre-wavelength telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. Its primary mirror is 15 metres across: it is the largest astronomical telescope that operates in submillimetre wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum...
in Hawaii.
Of the universities participating in the 140 million dollar CCAT project, 2 are from Germany, 4 from the USA, and at least 7 from Canada.
Construction is projected to begin in 2013 and be completed in 2017. The telescope is intended to complement the Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Atacama Large Millimeter Array
The Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array is an array of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array is being constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5000 metres altitude...
(ALMA), by discovering new sources that ALMA will follow up with highly detailed imagery.