AtLAST Science Overview Report

Author(s)

Mark Booth, Pamela Klaassen, Claudia Cicone, Tony Mroczkowski, Martin A. Cordiner, Luca Di Mascolo, Doug Johnstone, Eelco van Kampen, Minju M. Lee, Daizhong Liu, John Orlowski-Scherer, Amélie Saintonge, Matthew W. L. Smith, Alexander Thelen, Sven Wedemeyer, Kazunori Akiyama, Stefano Andreon, Doris Arzoumanian, Tom J. L. C. Bakx, Caroline Bot, Geoffrey Bower, Roman Brajša, Chian-Chou Chen, Elisabete da Cunha, David Eden, Stefano Ettori, Brandt Gaches, Evanthia Hatziminaoglou, Patricia Luppe, Benjamin Magnelli, Jonathan P. Marshall, Francisco Miguel Montenegro-Montes, Michael Niemack, Conor Nixon, Imke de Pater, Yvette Perrott, Sandra I. Raimundo, Elena Redaelli, Anita Richards, Matus Rybak, Nikolina Šarčević, Dmitry Semenov, Silvia Spezzano, Sundar Srinivasan, Thomas Stanke, Paola Andreani, Maria T. Beltrán, Bryan J. Butler, Sebastiano Cantalupo, Miguel Chavez Dagostino, Ana Duarte-Cabral, Bjorn Emonts, Leigh Fletcher, Dale E. Gary, Stanislav Gunar, Alvaro Hacar, Bendix Hagedorn, Tomek Kaminski, Fiona Kirton, Katherine de Kleer, Eduard Kontar, Yi-Jehng Kuan, John Lightfoot, Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez, Andreas Lundgren, Stefanie N. Milam, Atul Mohan, Raphael Moreno, Galina G. Motorina, Arielle Moullet, Kate Pattle, Alberto Pellizzoni, Nicolas Peretto, Joanna Ramasawmy, Claudio Ricci, Andrew J. Rigby, Álvaro Sánchez-Monge, Maryam Saberi, Masumi Shimojo, Aurora Simionescu, Mark Thompson, Alessio Traficante, Cristian Vignali, Stephen M. White

Abstract

Submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths provide a unique view of the

Universe, from the gas and dust that fills and surrounds galaxies to the

chromosphere of our own Sun. Current single-dish facilities have

presented a tantalising view of the brightest (sub-)mm sources, and

interferometers have provided the exquisite resolution necessary to

analyse the details in small fields, but there are still many open

questions that cannot be answered with current facilities. In this

report we summarise the science that is guiding the design of the

Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST). We demonstrate

how tranformational advances in topics including star formation in high

redshift galaxies, the diffuse circumgalactic medium, Galactic ecology,

cometary compositions and solar flares motivate the need for a 50m,

single-dish telescope with a 1-2 degree field of view and a new

generation of highly multiplexed continuum and spectral cameras. AtLAST

will have the resolution to drastically lower the confusion limit

compared to current single-dish facilities, whilst also being able to

rapidly map large areas of the sky and detect extended, diffuse

structures. Its high sensitivity and large field of view will open up

the field of submillimeter transient science by increasing the

probability of serendipitous detections. Finally, the science cases

listed here motivate the need for a highly flexible operations model

capable of short observations of individual targets, large surveys,

monitoring programmes, target of opportunity observations and

coordinated observations with other observatories. AtLAST aims to be a

sustainable, upgradeable, multipurpose facility that will deliver orders

of magnitude increases in sensitivity and mapping speeds over current

and planned submillimeter observatories.

Organisation(s)

Department of Astrophysics

No. of pages

48

Publication date

07-2024

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics

Keywords

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/2d029bd1-d195-4429-a19c-6a7bfa2c8e0d