CASIMIR, The Caltech airborne submillimeter interstellar medium investigations receiver

Abstract

CASIMIR, the Caltech Airborne Submillimeter Interstellar Medium Investigations Receiver is a multiband, far infrared and submillimeter, high resolution, heterodyne spectrometer under development for SOFIA. It is a first generation, PI class instrument. CASIMIR is designed for detailed, high sensitivity observations of warm (100 K) interstellar gas both in external galaxies and Galactic sources, including molecular clouds, circumstellar envelopes, and protostellar cores. Combining the 2.5 m SOFIA mirror with state of the art superconducting mixers, will give CASIMIR unprecedented sensitivity. Initially, CASIMIR will have two bands, at 1000 and 1250 GHz, and a further three bands, 550, 750, 1400 GHz, will be added soon after. Any four bands will be available on each flight. The availability of multiple bands during each flight will allow for efficient use of flight time. For example, searches for weak lines from rare species in bright sources can be carried out on the same flight with observations of abundant species in faint or distant objects.

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