The bulk of the universe is in fact quite cool. The typical tem-perature which characterizes most of the interstellar medium is about 10 K. Thepeak of its spectral energy distribution lies at far-infrared and sub-millimeterwavelengths. The construction of ALMA in the Atacama desert will bring online a very powerful instrument for studying the dust continuum emission aswell as the many molecular lines which become detectable at millimeter andsub-millimeter wavelengths. Moreover, ALMA will provide sub-arcsecond angu-lar resolution which will resolve a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, fromsolar system bodies to the most distant high redshift systems. Sub-millimeterinterferometry is already underway with the completion of the Sub-millimeterArray (SMA) on Mauna Kea. The initial science results offer some hints of whatmight he achievable in the next decade.
展开▼
