|
Sub-Millimeter
Array of Taiwan (SMART/SMA) |
| |
PI: Dr. Paul Ho |
In
1996, Academia Sinica signed an agreement with the Smithsonian
Institution to build two 6-m sub-mm radio telescopes
to join the six built by Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
(SAO) to form the world first sub-mm array (SMA) on
Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Since then, the ASIAA has built up
a technical staff to construct the high-precision telescopes
and the high-frequency receivers, and a scientific staff
to make use of this unique facility. The two telescopes
were shipped to Hawaii in 2001 and are now operating
as part of the SMA on top of Mauna Kea. The
dedication ceremony of the whole array was held in November
2003.
|
|
Array
for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) |
| |
PI:
Dr. Paul Ho |
In
collaboration with the National Taiwan University, funded
in part by the Ministry of Education Research Excellence
Initiative, the ASIAA is building AMiBA designed to measure
the polarization of the cosmic microwave background and
to detect clusters of galaxies at high redshift using
the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. It is a platform-mounted
interferometer operating at 90 GHz with up to 19 dishes
of two possible diameters (0.6m, 1.2m), to be completed
in 2007. 7 dishes are scheduled to be completed by 2005. |
|
The
Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) |
| |
PI: Dr.
Typhoon Lee
|
TAOS
is a collaborative project with the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, the University of Pennsylvania, the
National Central University, and the Yonsei University
in Korea to set up an observatory consisting of four fully
automated 0.5m optical telescopes located on peaks at
3,000 m in elevation in or near Yu Shan (Jade Mountain)
National Park in Taiwan. The four robotic telescopes will
automatically monitor 3,000 stars every clear night to
search for small Kuiper Belt objects using the occultation
technique. This will allow detection of bodies smaller
than those discovered by direct imaging with much larger
optical telescopes. As the Kuiper Belt is a probable source
of short period comets, TAOS will provide important new
information on the outer Solar System. |
|
Computation
Fluid Dynamics-MagnetoHydroDynamics (CFD-MHD) |
| |
PI: Dr. Chi Yuan |
In
2002, ASIAA launched a joint research project to develop
high performance computational fluid mechanics ¡V
Magnetohydrodynamics (CFD-MHD) codes for astrophysical
problems in collaboration with the Institute of Mathematics
and Department of Mathematics of National Taiwan University.
We are currently undertaking a new initiative with National
Tsing Hua University to establish a Theoretical Institute
for Advanced Research in Astrophysics (TIARA). |
|
Optical
& Infrared Astronomy (OIR) |
| |
PI:
Dr. Sun Kwok |
ASIAA is developing
Optical/Infrared astronomy with the universities. Through
collaboration with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
(CFHT) in the development of the Wide Field Infrared Camera,
ASIAA will have access to 68 nights of observing time
on CFHT. |
