Cornell astronomers were given a boost recently, as a panel of scientists appointed by the National Academy of Sciences strongly endorsed the construction of a Cornell-led telescope project in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

The panel, acting on the results of Astro2010 — a survey of astronomy projects throughout the country — recommended in mid-August that the U.S. government contribute $37 million in funding to support of the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT). Cerro Chajnantor is the mountain in the Chilean Andes on which the telescope will be built.

This number is roughly a third of the project’s total cost, which hovers around $110 million.

“I think it’s a very strong scientific case to make the telescope ... so I wasn’t really surprised by this recommendation,” said Prof. Gordon Stacey, astronomy, who is currently working on the project. “But Astro2010 doesn’t allocate funds, it’s only a recommendation to the NSF [National Science Foundation] of scientific merit. There’s no guarantee at this point for funding, but we feel sure this scientific recommendation should help.”

 CCAT will attempt to gain insight into the formation of galaxies, stars and planets, more than eight billion light years away from Earth, by examining radiation emissions at submillimeter wavelengths. 

Because this radiation is easily absorbed by dust and water vapor, the telescope will be built in the extremely dry Atacama, where it will function at an altitude of more than 18,000 feet.

The telescope has been in the planning and design stages for more than a decade, according to project director Prof. Riccardo Giovanelli, astronomy.

 “We began site testing in 1999, but the concept of CCAT itself was born in 2004,” said Giovanelli. “In the first two years, we formed a partnership with Caltech; in the following two years we did a feasibility study. From that, we were told we needed a consortium that could cover the project financially.”

 “The consortium is still evolving, it is currently six partners led by Cornell,” he added.

 International cooperation is a hallmark of this evolving process; along with Caltech and the University of Colorado, Cornell astronomers hope to work with a consortium of German, British and Canadian scientists.

 “We hope to sign the formal agreement soon, in mid-October,” Stacey said. “We may pick up more partners in France and England, and I think the list of collaborators will grow substantially in the next six months.”

One leading benefit of the telescope is its broad field of view; its 25-meter wide aperture will allow CCAT to easily complement the European Southern Observatory’s Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) –– a group of 50 12-meter submillimeter telescopes located in the nearby Andes.

According to Stacey, as CCAT discovers millions of new galaxies and stars, researchers at ALMA will be able to narrow their gaze on thousands of CCAT’s discoveries, resulting in exceedingly fine detail.

 “As you can see, CCAT and ALMA have a lot of work in common,” Stacey said. “In fact, I’d say CCAT is almost necessary to fully realize the value of ALMA.”

First light for CCAT, which is a standard benchmark to measure observatories’ completion, is planned for 2017.

 Until then, there is still much work to be done to secure funding, even in addition to the anticipated $37 million in support from the federal government.

“It’s not exactly clear how much Cornell and Caltech will pledge, but our goal is for each to contribute 20 to 25 percent of the total cost,” Stacey said. “An alumnus, Fred Young [’64], as well as the College of Arts and Sciences, have made significant contributions.”

 If the team is able to secure the necessary funding, they hope to begin project construction by 2013.