SCUBA-2 is a 10000-bolometer submillimetre camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The instrument commissioning was completed in September 2011, and full science operations began in October 2011. To harness the full potential of this powerful new astronomical tool, the instrument calibration must be accurate and well understood. To this end, the algorithms for calculating the line-of-sight opacity have been improved, and the derived atmospheric extinction relationships at both wavebands of the SCUBA-2 instrument are presented. The results from over 500 primary and secondary calibrator observations have allowed accurate determination of the flux conversion factors (FCF) for the 850 and 450 µm arrays. Descriptions of the instrument beam-shape and photometry methods are presented. The calibration factors are well determined, with relative calibration accuracy better than 5 per cent at 850 µm and 10 per cent at 450 µm, reflecting the success of the derived opacity relations as well as the stability of the performance of the instrument over several months. The sample-size of the calibration observations and accurate FCFs have allowed the determination of the 850 and 450 µm fluxes of several well-known submillimetre sources, and these results are compared with previous measurements from SCUBA.
Strong infrared circular polarization resulting from dust scattering in reflection nebulae in the Orion OMC-1 star-formation region has been observed. Circular polarization at shorter wavelengths might have been important in inducing chiral asymmetry in interstellar organic molecules that could be subsequently delivered to the early Earth by comets, interplanetary dust particles, or meteors. This could account for the excess of L-amino acids found in the Murchison meteorite and could explain the origin of the homochirality of biological molecules.
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.
SCUBA-2 is an innovative 10000 pixel bolometer camera operating at submillimetre wavelengths on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The camera has the capability to carry out wide-field surveys to unprecedented depths, addressing key questions relating to the origins of galaxies, stars and planets. With two imaging arrays working simultaneously in the atmospheric windows at 450 and 850 µm, the vast increase in pixel count means that SCUBA-2 maps the sky 100-150 times faster than the previous SCUBA instrument. In this paper we present an overview of the instrument, discuss the physical characteristics of the superconducting detector arrays, outline the observing modes and data acquisition, and present the early performance figures on the telescope. We also showcase the capabilities of the instrument via some early examples of the science SCUBA-2 has already undertaken. In February 2012, SCUBA-2 began a series of unique legacy surveys for the JCMT community. These surveys will take 2.5 years and the results are already providing complementary data to the shorter wavelength, shallower, larger-area surveys from Herschel. The SCUBA-2 surveys will also provide a wealth of information for further study with new facilities such as ALMA, and future telescopes such as CCAT and SPICA.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.