NSF Award
2449325
This project is to install, commission and operate a fully cryogenic, 26cm aperture near-infrared telescope at Concordia station in the Antarctic. This instrument, called the Cryoscope Pathfinder, is actually a quarter-scale prototype for a cutting edge wide-field 1-meter class telescope that will be designed for multi-messenger astrophysics. Cryoscope Pathfinder will demonstrate this new technology for the first time by conducting a survey to detect transient and time varying events in the near-infrared from Antarctica, a site with ideal conditions to showcase the improvements over previous telescopes. <br/><br/>Cryoscope Pathfinder is a technology demonstrator for a very wide field infrared survey telescope that will deliver the sensitivity and field of view (FOV) required to localize infrared transients such as the neutron star – black hole mergers detected by LIGO. The telescope is optimized for operation in the K_dark spectral passband which falls between the last atmospheric airglow lines at 2.35 microns and the onset of water absorption at 2.55 microns. To take advantage of this atmospheric window, a new approach was required since established techniques cannot reduce thermal emission from the telescope below that of the darker sky while delivering the tens of square degrees FOV required for a rapid survey rate. Cryoscope Pathfinder is thus specifically designed to take advantage of the K_dark band which is unique to the cold sky over Antarctica, and it can only reach its full potential on the high plateau of Dome C due to the lower temperatures and better atmospheric stability (seeing) than are found even at the South Pole. <br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
