학술논문

COCHISE: the first light of the Italian millimetre telescope at Concordia (Dome C, Antarctica).
Document Type
Article
Source
Experimental Astronomy. Sep2011, Vol. 31 Issue 2/3, p199-214. 16p.
Subject
*SUBMILLIMETER waves
*ASTRONOMICAL observatories
*REFLECTING telescopes
*METAPHYSICAL cosmology
*INFRARED astronomy
*INFRARED telescopes
*WAVELENGTHS
Language
ISSN
0922-6435
Abstract
COCHISE (Cosmological Observations at Concordia with High-sensitivity Instrument for Source Extraction) is a 2.6 m telescope located on the high Antarctic Plateau near the Italian-French Concordia Base. The telescope is mainly devoted to Cosmological observations, able to operate between 200 μm and 3 mm of wavelength. In this paper we describe the main characteristics of the instrument. We also report on the first light, obtained during summer 2010-2011: this result marks the beginning of millimetre astrophysical observations at Concordia. Responsivity, noise equivalent temperature and field of view of the instrument are reported. At present COCHISE is the largest telescope located at Concordia. Beside the scientific expectations, the use of this kind of instrument in the Antarctic environment poses technological aspects of relevant interest: thus COCHISE can be considered as a pathfinder for future Antarctic telescopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]