Fabrication of the , a powerful telescope capable of mapping the sky at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths, has now begun, marking a major milestone in .
The 6-meter aperture telescope will be installed near the top of Cerro Chajnantor, a peak in Chile鈥檚 Atacama Desert. CCAT-p will provide insights into 鈥渃osmic dawn鈥 鈥 when the first stars were born after the Big Bang 鈥 as well as how stars and galaxies form and the dark-energy-driven expansion of the universe. The telescope鈥檚 novel optical design, high-precision mirrors and high-altitude location (over 18,000 feet) will give scientists important new opportunities for astrophysics and cosmology research.
Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH of Duisburg, Germany, is fabricating the telescope鈥檚 components. The design review process took nearly two years, and some of the parts will take nearly as long to fabricate, such as the telescope鈥檚 two mirrors, said project director professor and chair of Cornell鈥檚 Department of Astronomy.
Once the fabrication is complete, the parts will be assembled at a location in Europe and functional tests will be performed on the complete structure. The telescope will then be broken down and transported to Chile in 2020, where it will be reassembled and installed on a concrete base on Cerro Chajnantor.
Illustrated section view of the telescope
鈥淭his project has been in development for a long time, and it鈥檚 exciting to see it so close to becoming a reality,鈥 said , CCAT Observatory board chair and Cornell鈥檚 Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy. 鈥淲ith the short time frame for construction, we should have the telescope on top of the mountain and collecting data in a little more than two years.鈥
That moment 鈥 what astronomers call 鈥渇irst light 鈥 is on schedule to take place in the middle of 2021.
CCAT-Prime is thanks in large part to the vision and generosity of Fred Young 鈥64, noted Haynes. He has been a CCAT supporter from the beginning and has participated in design reviews, including the most recent in late October.
鈥淚t is exciting and satisfying that we have reached the initial construction phase,鈥 Young said. 鈥淢uch remains to be done, and we鈥檙e finalizing the last bit of support, but the start of science efforts with the telescope is within view. This is a tribute to the foresight and unrelenting effort of the many participants in this important project.鈥
Cornell Provost Michael Kotlikoff said: 鈥淭his is an exciting scientific endeavor for Cornell and an important investment in the future of our outstanding astronomy and astrophysics research programs. Fred鈥檚 unflagging support has made Cornell鈥檚 leadership of the project possible.鈥
The CCAT corporation is a partnership of Cornell; the German CCAT Consortium, which includes the German Universities of Cologne and Bonn and the Max Planck Institute; and the Canadian Atacama Telescope Consortium (CATC), a consortium of Canadian academic institutions. Faculty and staff at several other institutes in the U.S., Canada, Chile and Germany are also involved in science planning and instrumentation development.
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