Introduction to the JCMT-CSO Interferometer

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) are located 160m apart on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Recently they have been linked together to allow the first submillimetre interferometric observations (between 300GHz and 490GHz, soon to 690GHz). Submillimetre observations can be used to probe the physical conditions of molecular clouds and dust in starforming regions. Lines from rotational transitions of molecules such as CO, HCN and HCO+ trace densities, temperatures and masses of molecular gas. The thermal emission of cold dust, typically found in dense clouds, also peaks in the submm regime.