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Session 62 - Workshop on the Future of Antarctic Astrophysics - II.
Topical, Oral session, Wednesday, June 10
Presidio,
The scientific potential for studies on cloud structure and star formation with a 10m submillimeter telescope at the South Pole is discussed. Because with the much improved performance of current submm instruments (and in view of future advanced bolometer and heterodyne array detectors), the dynamic range of ground-based submm observations is restricted by atmospheric transmission and its temporal fluctuations. South Pole's exceptionally good and stable transparency in the submm atmospheric windows will permit large-scale mapping and deep integration projects with sofar unmatched sensitivity and calibration accuracy. [0.5ex] We will exemplify the scientific perspectives with a few highlights like \circ \underlineunbiased continuum \underlinesurveys (@ 350\mum for best sensitivity) of nearby molecular clouds to identify dense cores as potential sites of future star formation. Complementary submm polarimetry to reveal magnetic field structure and spectral line follow-ups to study velocity field. \circ mapping the \underlinefractal structure of clouds in, e.g., the fine-structure transitions of neutral carbon, to complement column density tracing lower rotational CO data. \circ investigation of the \underlinethermal balance of the interstellar medium as seen in important cooling lines like CI, NII and the excited CO transitions -- both from large-scale emission regions like the Galactic center and from more localized PDR's.
