Open Research Europe (Jun 2024)
Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Our Galaxy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
- Pamela Klaassen,
- Maria Beltrán,
- Alessio Traficante,
- Mark Booth,
- Kate Pattle,
- Jonathan Marshall,
- Joshua Lovell,
- Brandt Gaches,
- Alvaro Hacar,
- Nicolas Peretto,
- Caroline Bot,
- Doris Arzoumanian,
- Thomas Stanke,
- Gaspard Duchêne,
- Ana Duarte Cabral,
- Antonio Hales,
- David Eden,
- Patricia Luppe,
- Jens Kauffmann,
- Elena Redaelli,
- Sebastian Marino,
- Álvaro Sánchez-Monge,
- Andrew Rigby,
- Dmitry Semenov,
- Eugenio Schisano,
- Mark Thompson,
- Silvia Spezzano,
- Claudia Cicone,
- Friedrich Wyrowski,
- Martin Cordiner,
- Tony Mroczkowski,
- Doug Johnstone,
- Luca Di Mascolo,
- Minju Lee,
- Eelco van Kampen,
- Thomas Maccarone,
- Daizhong Liu,
- Matthew Smith,
- Amélie Saintonge,
- Sven Wedemeyer,
- Alexander Thelen
Affiliations
- Pamela Klaassen
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Maria Beltrán
- ORCiD
- Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, INAF, Firenze, 50125, Italy
- Alessio Traficante
- IAPS-INAF, Rome, I-00133, Italy
- Mark Booth
- ORCiD
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Kate Pattle
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, England, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Jonathan Marshall
- Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
- Joshua Lovell
- Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, 02138-1516, USA
- Brandt Gaches
- Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, SE-412 96, Sweden
- Alvaro Hacar
- Department of Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1180, Austria
- Nicolas Peretto
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 3AA, UK
- Caroline Bot
- ORCiD
- Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, Universite de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, Grand Est, F-67000, France
- Doris Arzoumanian
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, 181-8588, Japan
- Thomas Stanke
- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, 85748, Germany
- Gaspard Duchêne
- Universite Grenoble Alpes, Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, F-38000, France
- Ana Duarte Cabral
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 3AA, UK
- Antonio Hales
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA, 22903-2475, USA
- David Eden
- Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, Armagh, BT61 9DB, UK
- Patricia Luppe
- ORCiD
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, 2, Ireland
- Jens Kauffmann
- ORCiD
- Haystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 01886, USA
- Elena Redaelli
- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, 85748, Germany
- Sebastian Marino
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter, England, EX4 4QL, UK
- Álvaro Sánchez-Monge
- ORCiD
- Institut de Ciènces de l'Espai, Barcelona, E-08193, Spain
- Andrew Rigby
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, England, LS2 9JT, UK
- Dmitry Semenov
- Max Planck Institute für Astronomie, Heidelberg, D-69117, Germany
- Eugenio Schisano
- IAPS-INAF, Rome, I-00133, Italy
- Mark Thompson
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, England, LS2 9JT, UK
- Silvia Spezzano
- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, 85748, Germany
- Claudia Cicone
- ORCiD
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, 0315, Norway
- Friedrich Wyrowski
- Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, 53121, Germany
- Martin Cordiner
- Astrochemistry Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
- Tony Mroczkowski
- ORCiD
- European Southern Observatory, Garching, 85748, Germany
- Doug Johnstone
- ORCiD
- NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7, Canada
- Luca Di Mascolo
- ORCiD
- Laboratoire Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Nice, 06304, France
- Minju Lee
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Eelco van Kampen
- ORCiD
- European Southern Observatory, Garching, 85748, Germany
- Thomas Maccarone
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, 79409-1051, USA
- Daizhong Liu
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, 85748, Germany
- Matthew Smith
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 3AA, UK
- Amélie Saintonge
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, England, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Sven Wedemeyer
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, 0315, Norway
- Alexander Thelen
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 4
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.
