Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science
- Author(s)
- Pamela Klaassen, Alessio Traficante, Maria Beltrán, Kate Pattle, Mark Booth, Joshua Lovell, Jonathan Marshall, Alvaro Hacar, Brandt Gaches, Caroline Bot, Nicolas Peretto, Thomas Stanke, Doris Arzoumanian, Ana Duarte Cabral, Gaspard Duchêne, David Eden, Antonio Hales, Jens Kauffmann, Patricia Luppe, Sebastian Marino, Elena Redaelli, Andrew Rigby, Álvaro Sánchez-Monge, Eugenio Schisano, Dmitry Semenov, Silvia Spezzano, Mark Thompson, Friedrich Wyrowski, Claudia Cicone, Tony Mroczkowski, Martin Cordiner, Luca Di Mascolo, Doug Johnstone, Eelco van Kampen, Minju Lee, Daizhong Liu, Thomas Maccarone, Amélie Saintonge, Matthew Smith, Alexander Thelen, Sven Wedemeyer
- Abstract
As we learn more about the multi-scale interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy, we develop a greater understanding for the complex relationships between the large-scale diffuse gas and dust in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs), how it moves, how it is affected by the nearby massive stars, and which portions of those GMCs eventually collapse into star forming regions. The complex interactions of those gas, dust and stellar populations form what has come to be known as the ecology of our Galaxy. Because we are deeply embedded in the plane of our Galaxy, it takes up a significant fraction of the sky, with complex dust lanes scattered throughout the optically recognizable bands of the Milky Way. These bands become bright at (sub-)millimetre wavelengths, where we can study dust thermal emission and the chemical and kinematic signatures of the gas. To properly study such large-scale environments, requires deep, large area surveys that are not possible with current facilities. Moreover, where stars form, so too do planetary systems, growing from the dust and gas in circumstellar discs, to planets and planetesimal belts. Understanding the evolution of these belts requires deep imaging capable of studying belts around young stellar objects to Kuiper belt analogues around the nearest stars. Here we present a plan for observing the Galactic Plane and circumstellar environments to quantify the physical structure, the magnetic fields, the dynamics, chemistry, star formation, and planetary system evolution of the galaxy in which we live with AtLAST; a concept for a new, 50m single-dish sub-mm telescope with a large field of view which is the only type of facility that will allow us to observe our Galaxy deeply and widely enough to make a leap forward in our understanding of our local ecology.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Astrophysics
- External organisation(s)
- The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali , INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, University College London, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Leiden University, Chalmers University of Technology, Université de Strasbourg, Cardiff University, Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, University of Grenoble Alpes, University of California, Berkeley, Armagh Observatory, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Dublin, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, University of Exeter, University of Leeds, Institut de Ciènces de l'Espai, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, University of Oslo, European Southern Observatory (Germany), National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Università degli Studi di Trieste, INAF Astronomical Observatory of Triest, IFPU – Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe, National Research Council Canada (NRC-CNRC), University of Victoria, University of Copenhagen, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Texas Tech University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Journal
- Open Research Europe
- Volume
- 4
- ISSN
- 2732-5121
- Publication date
- 02-2025
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103004 Astrophysics
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/4c0f85e6-bbbc-4960-bead-7c444be36094