The Arcminute Microkelvin Imager

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2008-12, Vol.391 (4), p.1545-1558
• Main Authors: Zwart, J. T. L., Barker, R. W., Biddulph, P., Bly, D., Boysen, R. C., Brown, A. R., Clementson, C., Crofts, M., Culverhouse, T. L., Czeres, J., Dace, R. J., Davies, M. L., D'Alessandro, R., Doherty, P., Duggan, K., Ely, J. A., Felvus, M., Feroz, F., Flynn, W., Franzen, T. M. O., Geisbüsch, J., Génova-Santos, R., Grainge, K. J. B., Grainger, W. F., Hammett, D., Hills, R. E., Hobson, M. P., Holler, C. M., Hurley-Walker, N., Jilley, R., Jones, M. E., Kaneko, T., Kneissl, R., Lancaster, K., Lasenby, A. N., Marshall, P. J., Newton, F., Norris, O., Northrop, I., Odell, D. M., Petencin, G., Pober, J. C., Pooley, G. G., Pospieszalski, M. W., Quy, V., Rodríguez-Gonzálvez, C., Saunders, R. D. E., Scaife, A. M. M., Schofield, J., Scott, P. F., Shaw, C., Shimwell, T. W., Smith, H., Taylor, A. C., Titterington, D. J., Velić, M., Waldram, E. M., West, S., Wood, B. A., Yassin, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomy; Cosmic background radiation; cosmic microwave background; cosmology: observations; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; galaxies: clusters: general; instrumentation: interferometers; Radio astronomy; radio continuum: general; Radio telescopes; Stars & galaxies; telescopes
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13953.x

The Arcminute Microkelvin Imager is a pair of interferometer arrays operating with six frequency channels spanning 13.9–18.2 GHz, for observations on angular scales of 30 arcsec–10 arcmin and for declinations greater than −15°; the Small Array has a sensitivity of 30 mJy s−1/2 and the Large Array has a sensitivity of 3 mJy s−1/2. The telescope is aimed principally at Sunyaev–Zel'dovich imaging of clusters of galaxies. We discuss the design of the telescope and describe and explain its electronic and mechanical systems.