P-ArTéMiS
The Proto-ArTéMiS (P-ArTéMiS) camera, a prototype of ArTéMiS, has been tested at the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope on the Chajnantor plateau in Chile’s Atacama region in March 2007. The goal was to demonstrate the feasibility and scientific potential of ArTéMiS.
P-ArTéMiS was first tested on the KOSMA 3-metre telescope in March 2006 and January 2007. It was then taken to Chile for initial tests on APEX during the second half of March 2007 under technical time allocated by the APEX board, and then during ESO and Onsala scientific time in November 2007.
P-ArTéMiS was a small array of 256 bolometers working at 450 μm and with a field of view of 1′ ⨉ 1′. The array used for the tests was a 16 ⨉ 16-pixel PACS-like detector array that was not selected to be onboard the Herschel Space Observatory and was modified to operate at 450 μm by adding a silicon layer on its surface (anti-reflecting layer) to be adapted to the high optical load encountered at APEX site. During the 2007 runs, P-ArTéMiS was installed at the visitor focus in the Nasmyth-A cabin of the APEX telescope.
P-ArTéMiS played a very important role in mapping high-mass star-forming regions in the Milky Way, like NGC 3576, but also outside our own galaxy, with the study of the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
P-ArTéMiS demonstrated the unique potential of the ArTéMiS bolometer camera for studies of star-forming regions in the southern hemisphere with APEX.
P-ArTéMiS on APEXThis table lists the global capabilities of the instrument.
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