The Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope

Understand

Cornell University, the California Institute for Technology, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are jointly studying the construction of a 25 m diameter telescope for submillimeter astronomy on a high mountain in northern Chile.

• This Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT) will combine high sensitivity, a wide field of view, and a broad wavelength range to provide an unprecedented capability for deep, large area, multi-color submillimeter surveys to complement narrow field, high resolution studies with ALMA.
• CCAT observations will address fundamental themes in contemporary astronomy, notably the formation and evolution of galaxies, the nature of the dark matter and dark energy that comprise most of the content of the universe, the formation of stars and planets, the conditions in circumstellar disks, and the conditions during the early history of the Solar system.
• The candidate CCAT site, at 5600 m in northern Chile, enjoys superb observing conditions.