Combined array for research in millimeter-wave astronomy

Abstract

The Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) has been formed from the millimeter-wave antennas of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) and the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) Array. CARMA consists of six 10.4-m and nine 6.1-m diameter antennas on a site at elevation 2200 m in the Inyo Mountains of eastern California. The array is operated by an association that includes the California Institute of Technology and the Universities of California (Berkeley), Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), and Maryland. The University of Chicago's Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) is expected to join CARMA with eight 3.5-m antennas in 2008. CARMA has been conducting community 3-mm observations since the beginning of 2007 in two of the five antenna configurations. Commissioning observations at 1.3 mm and using configurations containing very short (8 m) and long (1.7 km) baselines are underway. I present some of the first scientific results from CARMA and describe our program of continuing enhancements.