The Stratospheric THz Observatory (STO)

Walker, Christopher K.; Kulesa, Craig; Bernasconi, P. N.; Eaton, H.; Rolander, N.; Groppi, C.; Kloosterman, Jenna; Cottam, T.; Lesser, David; Martin, Christopher L.; Stark, A. A.; Neufeld, David A.; Lisse, C. M.; Hollenbach, D. J.; Kawamura, J.; Goldsmith, Paul F.; Langer, W. D.; Yorke, H. W.; Sterne, Jonathan; Skalare, A.; Mehdi, Imran; Weinreb, S.; Kooi, J.; Stützki, J.; Graf, U. U.; Brasse, M.; Honingh, C. E.; Simon, R.; Akyilmaz, M.; Puetz, P.; Wolfire, M. G.

doi:10.1117/12.857765

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is so that they may also be applied toward interpreting measurements made with sub-mm telescopes in Chile such as Nanten2, APEX, and ALMA (e.g., Graf et al 2008;Lo et al 2014), as well as THz frequency telescopes. The latter include airborne (e.g., SOFIA; Pérez-Beaupuits et al 2012) and space (e.g., Herschel; Velusamy et al 2010;Langer et al 2014) facilities as well as future telescopes under development for Antarctica such as STO-2 (Walker et al 2010) and DATE5 (Yang et al 2013). …”

Section: Photo Dissociation Region (Pdr) Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended Carbon Line Emission in the Galaxy: Searching for Dark Molecular Gas Along the G328 Sightline

Burton

Ashley

Braiding

et al. 2015

ApJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present spectral data cubes of the [CI] 809 GHz, CO 12 115 GHz, CO 13 110 GHz, and HI 1.4 GHz line emission from a ∼1 square degree region along the =  l 328 (G328) sightline in the Galactic Plane. Emission arises principally from gas in three spiral arm crossings along the sightline. The distribution of emission in the CO and [CI] lines is found to be similar, with the [CI] slightly more extended, and both are enveloped in extensive HI. Spectral line ratios per voxel in the data cubes are found to be similar across the entire extent of the Galaxy. However, toward the edges of the molecular clouds the [CI]/ CO 13 and CO 12 / CO 13 line ratios rise by ∼50%, and the [CI]/HI ratio falls by ∼10%. We attribute this to these sightlines passing predominantly through the surfaces of photodissociation regions (PDRs), where the carbon is found mainly as C or C + , while the H 2 is mostly molecular, and the proportion of atomic gas also increases. We undertake modeling of the PDR emission from low density molecular clouds excited by average interstellar radiation fields and cosmic-ray ionization to quantify this comparison, finding that depletion of sulfur and reduced PAH abundance is needed to match line fluxes and ratios. Roughly one-third of the molecular gas along the sightline is found to be associated with this surface region, where the carbon is largely not to be found in CO. Approximately 10% of the atomic hydrogen along the sightline is cold gas within PDRs.

show abstract

Section: Photo Dissociation Region (Pdr) Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended Carbon Line Emission in the Galaxy: Searching for Dark Molecular Gas Along the G328 Sightline

Burton

Ashley

Braiding

et al. 2015

ApJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A first attempt at a 2 × 2 pixel, balloon-borne dual frequency array (STO [23]) was only short lived, but will see a continuation in the upcoming STO-2 mission. The modular GREAT instrument [25] is currently being upgraded to become upGREAT [36], which accommodates two array receiver bands: a polarization split 2 × 7 pixel "low frequency" array around 1900 GHz and a 7 pixel high frequency array at 4700 GHz.…”

Section: Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz Heterodyne Array Receivers for Astronomy

Graf

Honingh

Jacobs

et al. 2015

J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We review the development of multi-pixel heterodyne receivers for astronomical research in the submillimeter and terahertz spectral domains. We shortly address the historical development, highlighting a few pioneering instruments. A discussion of the design concepts is followed by a presentation of the technologies employed in the various receiver subsystems and of the approaches taken to optimize these for current and future instruments.

show abstract

“…The CIDRE project also aimed to observe other THz lines, such as water, OH, high-J CO lines and HF. There have been other balloon projects that flew or will soon be flown with far infrared detectors, such as BLAST (Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope) derotator [1] , PILOT (Polarized Instrument for Long wavelength Observations of the Tenuous interstellar medium) [2] or STO (Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory) [3] . The first two instruments do not require high pointing accuracy (though the pointing needs to be known a posteriori) as they scan the whole sky.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges of the opto-mechanical conceptual design of a small far-IR balloon experiment

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Astronomers require more and more precise instruments for their observations. Here we describe the challenges encountered in the optical and mechanical designs of the CIDRE (Campagne d'Identification du Deutérium par Réception hEtérodyne) project, which was to be flown on a high altitude balloon at 40 km. The project aimed to measure the transitions of the HD molecule at 2.675 THz band and some other THz lines in our galaxy. The astronomers asked to fly the biggest possible telescope in a standard balloon gondola, and required high pointing accuracy (7 arcsec). In January 2014, the technical project, including the optical and mechanical designs, was evaluated to be of excellent standard, but, for all that, the project was cancelled because of financial constraints. Nevertheless the phase A study allowed us to identify the optical and mechanical challenges of balloon projects and we were able to come up with a simple design, that fulfilled all the requirements. The 900 mm primary mirror and the rest of the optics were designed to be supported by a sandwich-panel composite structure with carbon epoxy skins and aluminum honeycomb core to improve the mechanical stiffness and the thermal behavior of the instrument without increasing its mass or its complexity.In this paper, we describe the optical design and the mechanical structure of the instrument. Finite element analysis is carried out to estimate the gravitational flexure and the thermal deformations, which can both harm the pointing accuracy and the performances of the instrument. These simulations show that the proposed design would fulfill the different requirements (pointing accuracy, landing survival as well as the dynamic behavior).

show abstract

The Stratospheric THz Observatory (STO)

Abstract: ABSTRACT

Cited by 24 publications

References 2 publications

Extended Carbon Line Emission in the Galaxy: Searching for Dark Molecular Gas Along the G328 Sightline

Extended Carbon Line Emission in the Galaxy: Searching for Dark Molecular Gas Along the G328 Sightline

Terahertz Heterodyne Array Receivers for Astronomy

Challenges of the opto-mechanical conceptual design of a small far-IR balloon experiment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About