Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope Design Study

About Browse

Our understanding of the formation, destruction and evolution of objects in the Universe requires a comprehensive view of the sky at millimeter and sub-millimeter (sub-mm) wavelengths. From the discovery of dusty sub-mm galaxies to the ringed nature of protostellar disks, the current generation of sub-mm facilities has opened a new window for astronomical discoveries. The EU-funded AtLAST project (January 2025 - December 2029) is making plans for a giant technological leap into a next-generation large aperture (50 meters in diameter) single-antenna telescope with a field-of-view of two degrees, run as a facility telescope by an international partnership and powered by renewable energy. The project is obtaining a feasibility study and telescope design that take into account the technical, operational and environmental challenges of such infrastructure and are able to achieve the transformational science goals.

This collection includes outputs from the design study, and namely the science case studies designed to set out the future advances in astronomy. These studies motivate this new observatory and set out the technical requirements for the telescope and instrumentation. They are related to the following themes:

  • High redshift galaxies
  • Circumgalactic medium
  • Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect
  • Nearby galaxies
  • Our galaxy
  • The Solar System
  • The Sun
  • Transient sources and variability

Collection advisors: Mark Booth (UK Astronomy Technology Centre, UK), Claudia Cicone (University of Oslo, Norway), Pamela Klaassen (UK Astronomy Technology Centre, UK), Tony Mroczkowski (European Southern Observatory, Germany)
  • Case Study
    Revised
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Gas and dust in nearby galaxies

    Authors:  Daizhong Liu,  Amelie Saintonge,  Caroline Bot,  Francisca Kemper,  Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez,  Matthew Smith,  Thomas Stanke,  Paola Andreani,  Alessandro Boselli,  Claudia Cicone,  Timothy A. Davis,  Bendix Hagedorn,  Akhil Lasrado,  Ann Mao,  Serena Viti,  Mark Booth,  Pamela Klaassen,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Frank Bigiel,  Melanie Chevance,  Martin A. Cordiner,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Doug Johnstone,  Minju Lee,  Thomas Maccarone,  Alexander E. Thelen,  Eelco van Kampen,  Sven Wedemeyer
    Funders:  Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe
    Peer reviewers:  Bogdan Adrian Pastrav, Matilde Mingozzi, Yogesh Wadadekar
    Published:  May 23, 2025
  • Case Study
    Revised
    Peer review process completed

    Science development study for the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST): Solar and stellar observations

    Authors:  Sven Wedemeyer,  Miroslav Barta,  Roman Brajša,  Yi Chai,  Joaquim Costa,  Dale Gary,  Guillermo Gimenez de Castro,  Stanislav Gunar,  Gregory Fleishman,  Antonio Hales,  Hugh Hudson,  Mats Kirkaune,  Atul Mohan,  Galina Motorina,  Alberto Pellizzoni,  Maryam Saberi,  Caius L. Selhorst,  Paulo J. A. Simoes,  Masumi Shimojo,  Ivica Skokić,  Davor Sudar,  Fabian Menezes,  Stephen M. White,  Mark Booth,  Pamela Klaassen,  Claudia Cicone,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Martin A. Cordiner,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Doug Johnstone,  Eelco van Kampen,  Minju Lee,  Daizhong Liu,  Thomas Maccarone,  John Orlowski-Scherer,  Amelie Saintonge,  Matthew Smith,  Alexander E. Thelen
    Funders:  Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe
    Peer reviewers:  Alexander Pietrow, Francesco Pecora, Malcolm Druett
    Published:  December 12, 2024
  • Research Article
    Revised
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Probing the transient and time-variable sky

    Authors:  John Orlowski-Scherer,  Thomas Maccarone,  Joe Bright,  Tomasz Kamiński,  Michael Koss,  Atul Mohan,  Francisco Miguel Montenegro-Montes,  Sigurd Næss,  Claudio Ricci,  Paola Severgnini,  Thomas Stanke,  Cristian Vignali,  Sven Wedemeyer,  Mark Booth,  Claudia Cicone,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Doug Johnstone,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Martin Cordiner,  Jochen Greiner,  Evanthia Hatziminaoglou,  Eelco van Kampen,  Pamela Klaassen,  Minju Lee,  Daizhong Liu,  Amélie Saintonge,  Matthew Smith,  Alexander Thelen
    Funders:  Excellent Science, Horizon 2020
    Peer reviewers:  Kazumi Kashiyama, Octavi Fors, Youdong HU, Yuhan Yao
    Published:  January 14, 2025
  • Case Study
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Surveying the distant Universe

    Authors:  Eelco van Kampen,  Tom Bakx,  Carlos De Breuck,  Chian-Chou Chen,  Helmut Dannerbauer,  Benjamin Magnelli,  Francisco Miguel Montenegro-Montes,  Teppei Okumura,  Sy-Yin Pu,  Matus Rybak,  Amelie Saintonge,  Claudia Cicone,  Evanthia Hatziminaoglou,  Juliëtte Hilhorst,  Pamela Klaassen,  Minju Lee,  Christopher C. Lovell,  Andreas Lundgren,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Laura Sommovigo,  Mark Booth,  Martin A. Cordiner,  Rob Ivison,  Doug Johnstone,  Daizhong Liu,  Thomas J. Maccarone,  Matthew Smith,  Alexander E. Thelen,  Sven Wedemeyer
    Funders:  European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
    Peer reviewers:  Fabrizio Gentile, Hideki Umehata, Nickolas Kokron, Robert Yates, Rodrigo Carvajal
    Published:  June 24, 2024
  • Case Study
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: The hidden circumgalactic medium

    Authors:  Minju Lee,  Alice Schimek,  Claudia Cicone,  Paola Andreani,  Gergo Popping,  Laura Sommovigo,  Philip N. Appleton,  Manuela Bischetti,  Sebastiano Cantalupo,  Chian-Chou Chen,  Helmut Dannerbauer,  Carlos De Breuck,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Bjorn H.C. Emonts,  Evanthia Hatziminaoglou,  Antonio Pensabene,  Francesca Rizzo,  Matus Rybak,  Sijing Shen,  Andreas Lundgren,  Mark Booth,  Pamela Klaassen,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Martin A. Cordiner,  Doug Johnstone,  Eelco van Kampen,  Daizhong Liu,  Thomas Maccarone,  Amelie Saintonge,  Matthew Smith,  Alexander E. Thelen,  Sven Wedemeyer
    Funders:  Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe
    Peer reviewers:  David Frayer, Yongda Zhu
    Published:  June 13, 2024
  • Case Study
    Revised
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Resolving the hot and ionized Universe through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

    Authors:  Luca Di Mascolo,  Yvette Perrott,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Srinivasan Raghunathan,  Stefano Andreon,  Stefano Ettori,  Aurora Simionescu,  Joshiwa van Marrewijk,  Claudia Cicone,  Minju Lee,  Dylan Nelson,  Laura Sommovigo,  Mark Booth,  Pamela Klaassen,  Paola Andreani,  Martin A. Cordiner,  Doug Johnstone,  Eelco van Kampen,  Daizhong Liu,  Thomas J. Maccarone,  Thomas W. Morris,  John Orlowski-Scherer,  Amélie Saintonge,  Matthew Smith,  Alexander E. Thelen,  Sven Wedemeyer
    Funders:  European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
    Peer reviewers:  Elia Stefano Battistelli, François-Xavier Désert, Laura Salvati, Mathieu Remazeilles
    Published:  June 5, 2025
  • Case Study
    Revised
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Our Galaxy

    Authors:  Pamela Klaassen,  Alessio Traficante,  Maria Beltrán,  Kate Pattle,  Mark Booth,  Joshua Lovell,  Jonathan Marshall,  Alvaro Hacar,  Brandt Gaches,  Caroline Bot,  Nicolas Peretto,  Thomas Stanke,  Doris Arzoumanian,  Ana Duarte Cabral,  Gaspard Duchêne,  David Eden,  Antonio Hales,  Jens Kauffmann,  Patricia Luppe,  Sebastian Marino,  Elena Redaelli,  Andrew Rigby,  Álvaro Sánchez-Monge,  Eugenio Schisano,  Dmitry Semenov,  Silvia Spezzano,  Mark Thompson,  Friedrich Wyrowski,  Claudia Cicone,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Martin Cordiner,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Doug Johnstone,  Eelco van Kampen,  Minju Lee,  Daizhong Liu,  Thomas Maccarone,  Amélie Saintonge,  Matthew Smith,  Alexander Thelen,  Sven Wedemeyer
    Funders:  Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe
    Peer reviewers:  Guochao Sun, Tayyaba Zafar
    Published:  February 10, 2025
  • Case Study
    Revised
    Peer review process completed

    Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) Science: Planetary and Cometary Atmospheres

    Authors:  Martin Cordiner,  Alexander Thelen,  Thibault Cavalie,  Richard Cosentino,  Leigh N. Fletcher,  Mark Gurwell,  Katherine de Kleer,  Yi-Jehng Kuan,  Emmanuel Lellouch,  Arielle Moullet,  Conor Nixon,  Imke de Pater,  Nicholas Teanby,  Bryan Butler,  Steven Charnley,  Stefanie Milam,  Raphael Moreno,  Mark Booth,  Pamela Klaassen,  Claudia Cicone,  Tony Mroczkowski,  Luca Di Mascolo,  Doug Johnstone,  Eelco van Kampen,  Minju Lee,  Daizhong Liu,  Thomas Maccarone,  Amelie Saintonge,  Matthew Smith,  Sven Wedemeyer
    Funders:  Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe
    Peer reviewers:  Andrey Baryshev, Hideo Sagawa, Kaustubh Hakim, Takahiro Iino
    Published:  December 12, 2024