Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Our galaxy

Klaassen, Pamela, Traficante, Alessio, Beltrán, Maria, Pattle, Kate, Booth, Mark, Lovell, Joshua, Marshall, Jonathan, Hacar, Alvaro, Gaches, Brandt, Bot, Caroline, Peretto, Nicolas, Stanke, Thomas, Arzoumanian, Doris, Duarte Cabral, Ana, Duchêne, Gaspard, Eden, David, Hales, Antonio, Kauffmann, Jens, Luppe, Patricia, Marino, Sebastian, Redaelli, Elena, Rigby, Andrew, Sánchez-Monge, Álvaro, Schisano, Eugenio, Semenov, Dmitry, Spezzano, Silvia, Thompson, Mark, Wyrowski, Friedrich, Cicone, Claudia, Mroczkowski, Tony, Cordiner, Martin, Di Mascolo, Luca, Johnstone, Doug, van Kampen, Eelco, Lee, Minju, Liu, Daizhong, Maccarone, Thomas, Saintonge, Amélie, Smith, Matthew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3532-6970, Thelen, Alexander and Wedemeyer, Sven 2024. Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Our galaxy. Open Research Europe 4 , 112. 10.12688/openreseurope.17450.1

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (6MB)

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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	2732-5121
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 October 2024
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2024 11:01
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/171879

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item