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Over the past 3 years, we have conducted a survey of 100 square degrees of the southern Galactic plane with the Mopra radiotelescope (HOPS). The survey includes observations of multiple spectral lines in the 12 mm band, with the most important being the water maser transition at 22.2 GHz and the non-metastable inversion transitions of ammonia. We report on initial results from HOPS, including the detection of 540 water masers, about two-thirds of which appear to be new detections. We also find widespread emission in the NH3 (1,1) line, as well as detec tions in the NH3 (2,2), (3,3), (6,6) and (9,9) lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report provides the recommendations of ARENA Working Group 1 concerning the development of and objectives for a wide-field, optical/infrared, 2.5m class telescope for Antarctica. It discusses the key science drivers for such a telescope, the performance and capabilities it should have, and the logistics and infrastructure issues relevant to its construction and operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site testing data provides an essential part of the justification for funding any new astronomical facility by defining the technological design and determining the telescope performance, thus allowing the scientific objectives to be prioritised. Here we review the current status of site testing at Dome C by examining the range of instruments that have been, or are planned to be, deployed to the site. We then investigate in more detail preliminary data which has so far proven crucial for telescope design, data for which discrepancies exist between two or more instruments, and required data for which there are no current plans to obtain. We discuss the implications of this data on the technical design, expected performance, and the scientific capabilities for a 2.5 m class optical/infrared telescope. Finally, we identify the site parameters that require further study, and define the experiments necessary to determine these parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A description of the early days of infrared site testing at the South Pole is given, with special attention paid to the data which quantified the conditions during summer and the long twilight period. Such times are also provide relatively benign conditions for humans in Antarctica as well. We show that they are favourable for many observing programs that require the thermal infrared, and then discuss a number of specific projects that could be undertaken. Such projects might mark the first to be conducted with any new telescope in Antarctica, as they would enable science to be carried out during the commissioning period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we review the progress towards the deployment of a large "PILOT-like" telescope at Concordia Station, Dome C. PILOT is a proposed 2.4 m optical/IR telescope that will cost in excess of EUR 10 m, and is thus representative of the scale of facility that will transform Concordia into a significant international observatory. A design study of PILOT, funded by the Australian government, is currently underway. We describe the current status of this design study, and discuss the implications that major international projects such as PILOT hold for the future of Antarctic astronomy at Concordia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are studying the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) in the inner few degrees around the Galactic Centre, by mapping a large number of 3-mm molecular lines. We have used the 22-m Mopra telescope, with the new capabilities of the 8-GHz bandwidth MOPS digital filter bank. During 2006, we covered a 5 × 5 arcmin² area of the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud complex, with spectral coverage of nearly all of the range 81.7 to 113.5 GHz with 4 tunings of the broad band mode. We imaged over 50 spectral lines with strong extended emission and around 110 more lines which were weak, or concentrated at the Sgr B2(N) and Sgr B2(M) cores (Jones et al. 2008). We find substantial differences in chemical and physical conditions within the complex. During 2007 we covered the larger region of longitude -0.2 to 0.9 deg. and latitude -0.20 to 0.12 deg., including Sgr A and Sgr B2, in the frequency range 85.3 to 91.3 GHz. This includes lines of C3H2, CH3CCH, HOCO+, SO, H13CN, H13CO+, SO, HN13C, C2H, HNCO, HCN, HCO+, HNC, HC3N, 13CS and N2H+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]