CHAMP+

The Carbon Heterodyne Array of the MPIfR (CHAMP+) instrument was built in collaboration with SRON and JPL and mounted on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope on the Chajnantor plateau in Chile’s Atacama region in 2007.

CHAMP+ is a dual-colour heterodyne array for spectroscopy in the 350 and 450 μm atmospheric windows, which is located at the Nasmyth–B focus and managed by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR). The array is composed of 2 by 7 pixels that operate simultaneously in the RF tuning range of 0.42–0.48 mm (620–720 GHz) in the low (LFA) and 0.32–0.38 mm (780–950 GHz) in the high frequency (HFA) sub-array, respectively.

The prime observing modes for the CHAMP+ array are staring, raster and on-the-fly observations, all of which can be used with or without the wobbler switched on.

The instrument can also be operated remotely under full computer control of all components.

CHAMP+ on APEX

This table lists the global capabilities of the instrument.

Location: Chajnantor
Telescope: APEX
Focus: Nasmyth
Type: Receiver
Wavelength coverage:

Submillimetre
0.32–0.38 mm
0.42–0.48 mm

Spatial resolution:  
Spectral resolution:  
First light date: 2007
Science goals:

 

Images taken with the instrument: N/A
Images of the instrument: Link
Press Releases with the instrument: N/A
Data papers:

(Includes ESO and non-ESO papers)
Link

ESO data citation policy

Consortium:

  • ESO
  • MPIfR, Germany (lead)
  • SRON, the Netherlands
  • JPL, US