Exploring galactic and extragalactic masers with LLAMA

Abstract

LLAMA (Large Latin America Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is a new radio observatory that is being constructed in a collaboration between Argentina and Brazil. It will consist of a 12 meters diameter antenna that is being installed in Alto Chorrillos at 4850 m of altitude, in the Salta province of Argentina. Alto Chorrillos is a high-quality astronomical site similar to Chajnantor (Chile), where ALMA observatory operates. When completed, LLAMA will allow line, continuum and linear polarization observations between 35 and 700 GHz, approximately. For the first light, LLAMA will be equipped with ALMA-like receivers at bands 5 (163 - 211 GHz), 6 (211 - 275 GHz) and 9 (602 - 720 GHz). LLAMA is being planned to be a versatile astronomical facility that will serve the scientific community for the exploration of scientific topics as diverse as the molecular evolution of the Universe, black holes and their accretion disks, astrophysical jets, stellar formation and evolution, the structure of our galaxy and the Sun, planetary atmospheres and extragalactic astronomy. In this work, I will present the LLAMA project and the perspectives for this new astronomical facility in the context of the investigation of galactic and extragalactic masers.