Project Title

South Pole Telescope (SPT) Operations and Data Products

Summary

Event Number:
A-379-S
NSF / OPP Award 2147371

Program Director:
Dr. Vladimir Papitashvili

ASC POC/Implementer:
Paul Sullivan / Sheryl Seagraves / Leah Street

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. John Carlstrom
jc@kicp.uchicago.edu
University of Chicago
Astronomy and Astrophysics

Location

Supporting Stations: South Pole Station
Research Locations: South Pole Station

Description

This project will conduct measurements of the 14-billion-year-old cosmic microwave background (CMB) with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) to address some of the most basic and compelling questions regarding the origin and composition of the universe. The telescope's siting is ideal for ultra-low-noise imaging surveys of the sky at the millimeter and submillimeter radio wavelengths. This unique geographical location allows SPT to obtain extremely sensitive 24/7 observations of targeted, low-galactic, foreground regions of the sky. The telescope's third-generation SPT-3G receiver has 16,000 detectors configured for polarization-sensitive observations in three millimeter-wave bands. The proposed operations also support SPT's critical role in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global array of telescopes to image the event horizon around the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Field Season Overview

The plan for the upcoming season includes typical maintenance on the telescope and (SPT-3G and EHT) receivers, and training of the 2024 winter overs. In addition, this season we plan to install and perform several weeks of test observations with the SPT-SLIM instrument (NSF AST-2108763), which aims to demonstrate new on-chip spectrometer detector technology and constrain the molecular gas content of distant galaxies. As always, the SPT team expects to work with ASC and NSF on the coordination of deployments, scheduling, and support details. We plan to conduct routine yearly SPT tasks, including: (1) Service and maintain the telescope components and computer systems; (2) Computer upgrades and servicing; (3) Cryogenic maintenance of the SPT and optics cryostats; (4) Winterover training; and (5) Staffing for the machine shop

Deploying Team Members