The SuperSpec-MUSCAT Collaboration (SuMAC) is an effort to operate SuperSpec spectrometers in the MUSCAT instrument at the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT). SuperSpec is an on-chip filterbank spectrometer using kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs), with moderate R∼ 200 spectral resolution for observing in the 1 mm atmospheric window (190-300 GHz). While nominally a continuum camera operating a 1.1 mm, MUSCAT was also designed to operate as a testbed for pioneering detection technologies. In July 2025, three SuperSpec devices were installed and commissioned in the MUSCAT cryostat with minimal modifications to the system. This work presents an overview of SuperSpec's deployment and performance in MUSCAT along with the main results from the Summer 2025 observation campaign. Highlights include the detection of CO emission line in the galaxy NGC253, mapping the Orion KL region, and preliminary line intensity mapping scans.
Having a detailed knowledge of the intracluster medium (ICM) to infer the exact cluster physics such as the cluster dynamical state is crucial for cluster-based cosmological studies. This knowledge limits the accuracy and precision of mass estimation, a key parameter for such studies. In this paper, we conduct an in-depth analysis of cluster ACT-CL J0240.0+0116 using a multi-wavelength approach, with a primary focus on high angular resolution Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) thermal component observations obtained under the NIKA2 Sunyaev-Zeldovich Large Programme (LPSZ). We create composite images using NIKA2, X-ray, and optical galaxy number density maps. The results reveal distinct signs of disturbance within the cluster with the distributions of gas and member galaxies that do not overlap. We also find suggestions of an inflow of matter onto the cluster from the southwestern direction. Ultimately, we classify the cluster as disturbed, using morphological indicators derived from its SZ, X-ray, and optical image. The cluster SZ signal is also contaminated by a strong central point source. We adopt different approaches to handling this contaminant and find the estimates of our pressure and hydrostatic mass profiles robust to the point source mitigation model. The cluster hydrostatic mass is estimated at $4.25^{+0.50}_{-0.45\, } \times 10^{14} \,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ for the case where the point source was masked. These values are consistent with the mass estimated using only X-ray data and with those from previous SZ studies of the Atacama cosmology telescope (ACT) survey, with improved precision on the mass estimate. Our findings strongly suggest that ACT-CL J0240.0+0116 is a disturbed cluster system, and the detailed observations and derived values serve as a compelling case study for the capabilities of the LPSZ in mapping the cluster ICM with high precision.
The millimeter continuum emission from galaxies provides important information about cold dust, its distribution, its heating, and its role in the interstellar medium (ISM). This emission also carries an unknown portion of the free-free and synchrotron radiation. The IRAM 30 m Guaranteed Time Large Project, Interpreting Millimeter Emission of Galaxies with IRAM and NIKA2 (IMEGIN) provides a unique opportunity to study the origin of the millimeter emission at angular resolutions of < 18 '' in a sample of nearby galaxies. As a pilot study, we present millimeter observations of two IMEGIN galaxies, NGC 2146 (starburst) and NGC 2976 (peculiar dwarf) at 1.15 mm and 2 mm. Combined with the data taken with the Spitzer, Herschel, Planck, WSRT, and the 100 m Effelsberg telescopes, we modeled the infrared-to-radio Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of these galaxies, both globally and at resolved scales, using a Bayesian approach to (1) dissect different components of the millimeter emission, (2) investigate the physical properties of dust, and (3) explore the correlations between millimeter emission, gas, and star formation rate (SFR). We find that cold dust is responsible for most of the 1.15 mm emission in both galaxies and at 2 mm in NGC 2976. The free-free emission emits more importantly in NGC 2146 at 2 mm. The cold dust emissivity index is flatter in the dwarf galaxy (beta = 1.3 +/- 0.1) compared to the starburst galaxy (beta = 1.7 +/- 0.1). Mapping the dust-to-gas ratio, we find that it changes between 0.004 and 0.01 with a mean of 0.006 +/- 0.001 in the dwarf galaxy. In addition, there is no global balance between the formation and dissociation of H-2 in this galaxy. We find tight correlations between the millimeter emission and both the SFR and molecular gas mass in both galaxies.
SCUBA-2([1])/POL-2([2]) has been the most productive instrument at JCMT since it's fully commissioned([3]) in 2011 September, and it's constantly oversubscribed during the call-for-proposals by a factor of 3 to 5. The proposed new 850 mu m instrument will feature 7272 state-of-the-art Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs)([4]) operated below 100 mK, fully utilizing the JCMT's 12 arcmin Field of View (FoV), thus have all the capabilities of SCUBA-2 at 850 mu m, yet will map an order of magnitude faster. The new instrument will be incorporated with intrinsic polarization measurement capability which is 3636 pixels. Mapping the 850 mu m polarization will be improved by a factor of at least 20.
Aims. High-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) are proposed to be the progenitors of massive quiescent galaxies arising at cosmic noon, providing a crucial insight into the formation, assembly, and early quenching of massive galaxies in the early Universe. However, their high redshift combined with high dust obscuration adds significant difficulties to their redshift measurement, which is mandatory for detailed studies of their physical properties. Blind mm spectral scans are the most unbiased way in prinicple for obtaining accurate spectroscopic redshifts for these sources, but identifying faint molecular and atomic lines within limited telescope time for faint DSFGs is also difficult with these scans. Methods. We developed a new framework to constrain the source redshift. The method jointly accounts for the detection and/or nondetection of spectral lines and the prior information from the photometric redshift and total infrared luminosity from spectral energy distribution analysis. The method uses the estimated total infrared luminosity to predict the line fluxes at given redshifts and generates model spectra. The redshift-dependent spectral models were then compared with the observed spectra to determine the redshift. Results. We applied this joint redshift analysis method to four high- z dusty star-forming galaxy candidates selected from the NIKA2 observations of the HLSJ091828.6+514223 (HLS) field that were further observed by NOEMA with blind spectral scans. These sources only have Herschel SPIRE photometry as ancillary data. They were selected because SPIRE counterparts are faint or entirely lacking and thus favor to select the highest-redshift candidates. The method finds a spectroscopic redshift of 4 in the five NOEMA-counterpart detected sources, with z > 3. Based on these measurements, we derived the CO and [CI] lines and mm continuum fluxes from the NOEMA data and studied the properties of their interstellar medium and star formation. We find cold dust temperatures in some of the HLS sources compared to the general population of submm galaxies, which might be related to the bias introduced by the SPIRE-dropout selection. All sources except for one have a short gas-depletion time of a few hundred million years, which is typical of high- z submm galaxies. The only exception shows a longer gas-depletion time of up to a few billion years. This is comparable to the gas-depletion times of main-sequence galaxies at the same redshift. Furthermore, we identify a possible overdensity of dusty star-forming galaxies at z = 5.2 that is traced by two sources in our sample, as well as a lensed galaxy HLSJ091828.6+514223. Conclusions. We demonstrate that our method when applied to mm-selected DSFGs is able to determine the redshift accurately. This accuracy with only multiple emission lines with a low signal-to-noise ratio shows promising potential for the blind redshift search in large samples of high- z DSFGs, even in the absence of optical to near infrared photometric redshifts.
In the framework of the IMEGIN Large Program, we used the NIKA2 camera on the IRAM 30-m telescope to observe the edge-on galaxy NGC 891 at 1.15 mm and 2 mm and at a FWHM of 11.1” and 17.6”, respectively. Multiwavelength data enriched with the new NIKA2 observations fitted by the HerBIE SED code (coupled with the THEMIS dust model) were used to constrain the physical properties of the ISM. Emission originating from the diffuse dust disk is detected at all wavelengths from mid-IR to mm. while mid-lR observations reveal warm dust emission from compact H II regions. Indications of mm excess emission have also been found in the outer parts of the galactic disk. Furthermore, our SED fitting analysis constrained the mass fraction of the small (< 15 Å) dust grains. We found that small grains constitute 9.5% of the total dust mass in the galactic plane, but this fraction increases up to ~ 20% at large distances (|z| > 3 kpc) from the galactic plane.
We develop a new framework to constrain the source redshift. The method jointly accounts for the detection/non-detection of spectral lines and the prior information from the photometric redshift and total infrared luminosity from spectral energy distribution analysis. The method uses the estimated total infrared luminosity to predict the line fluxes at given redshifts and generates model spectra. The redshift-dependent spectral models are then compared with the observed spectra to find the redshift. Results. We apply the aforementioned joint redshift analysis method to four high-z dusty star-forming galaxy candidates selected from the NIKA2 observations of the HLSJ091828.6+514223 (HLS) field, and further observed by NOEMA with blind spectral scans. These sources only have SPIRE/Herschel photometry as ancillary data. They were selected because of very faint or no SPIRE counterparts, as to bias the sample towards the highest redshift candidates. The method finds the spectroscopic redshift of 4 in the 5 NOEMA-counterpart detected sources, with z>3. Based on these measurements, we derive the CO/[CI] lines and millimeter continuum fluxes from the NOEMA data and study their ISM and star-formation properties. We find cold dust temperatures in some of the HLS sources compared to the general population of sub-millimeter galaxies, which might be related to the bias introduced by the SPIRE-dropout selection. Our sources, but one, have short gas depletion time of a few hundred Myrs, which is typical among high-z sub-millimeter galaxies. The only exception shows a longer gas depletion time, up to a few Gyrs, comparable to that of main-sequence galaxies at the same redshift. Furthermore, we identify a possible over-density of dusty star-forming galaxies at z=5.2, traced by two sources in our sample, as well as the lensed galaxy HLSJ091828.6+514223. (abridged)
We present the first preliminary results of the project ICED, focusing on the face-on galaxy NGC4254. We use the millimetre maps observed with NIKA2 at lRAM-30m. as part of the IMEGIN Guaranteed Time Large Program. and of a wide collection of ancillary data (multi-wavelength photometry and gas phase spectral lines) that are publicly available. We derive the global and local properties of interstellar dust grains through infrared-to-radio spectral energy distribution fitting, using the hierarchical Bayesian code HerBIE. which includes the grain properties of the state-of-the-art dust model. THEMIS. Our method allows us to get the following dust parameters: dust mass, average interstellar radiation field, and fraction of small grains. Also, it is effective in retrieving the intrinsic correlations between dust parameters and interstellar medium properties. We find an evident anti-correlation between the interstellar radiation field and the fraction of small grains in the centre of NGC4254. meaning that, at strong radiation field intensities, very small amorphous carbon grains are efficiently destroyed by the ultra-violet photons coming from newly formed stars, through photo-desorption and sublimation. We observe a flattening of the anti-correlation at larger radial distances, which may be driven by the steep metallicity gradient measured in NGC4254.
In cluster cosmology, cluster masses are the main parameter of interest. They are needed to constrain cosmological parameters through the cluster number count. As the mass is not an observable, a scaling relation is needed to link cluster masses to the integrated Compton parameters Y, i.e. the Sunyaev-Zeldovich observable (SZ). Planck cosmological results obtained with cluster number counts are based on a scaling relation measured with clusters at low redshift (z<0.5) observed in SZ and X-ray. In the SZ Large Program (LPSZ) of the NIKA2 collaboration, the scaling relation will be obtained with a sample of 38 clusters at intermediate to high redshift (0.5<z<0.9) and observed at high angular resolution in both SZ and X-ray. Thanks to analytical simulation of LPSZ-like samples, we take into account the LPSZ selection function and correct for its effects. Besides, we show that white and correlated noises in the SZ maps do not affect the scaling relation estimation.
To understand the evolution of dust properties in molecular clouds in the course of the star formation process, we constrain the changes in the dust emissivity index from star-forming filaments to prestellar and protostellar cores to T Tauri stars. Using the NIKA2 continuum camera on the IRAM 30 m telescope. we observed the Taurus B211/B2I3 filament at 1.2 mm and 2 mm with unprecedented sensitivity and used the resulting maps to derive the dust emissivity index β. Our sample of 105 objects detected in the β map of the B211/B213 filament indicates that, overal. β decreases from filament and prestellar cores (β ~ 2 ± 0.5) to protostellar cores (β ~ 1.2 ± 0.2) to T-Tauri protoplanetary disk (β < I). The averaged dust emissivity index β across the B211/B2I3 filament exhibits a flat (β ~ 2 ± 0.3) profile. This may imply that dust grain sizes are rather homogeneous in the filament, start to grow significantly in size only after the onset of the gravitational contraction/collapse of prestellar cores to protostars, reaching big sizes in T Tauri protoplanetary disks. This evolution from the parent filament to T-Tauri disks happens on a timescale of about 1-2 Myr.
High-resolution mapping of the hot gas in galaxy clusters is a key tool for cluster-based cosmological analyses. Taking advantage of the NIKA2 millimeter camera operated at the IRAM 30-m telescope, the NIKA2 SZ Large Program seeks to get a high-resolution follow-up of 38 galaxy clusters covering a wide mass range at intermediate to high redshift. The measured SZ fluxes will be essential to calibrate the SZ scaling relation and the galaxy clusters mean pressure profile, needed for the cosmological exploitation of SZ surveys. We present in this study a method to infer a mean pressure profile from cluster observations. We have designed a pipeline encompassing the map-making and the thermodynamical properties estimates from maps. We then combine all the individual fits, propagating the uncertainties on integrated quantities, such as R_500 or P_500, and the intrinsic scatter coming from the deviation to the standard self-similar model. We validate the proposed method on realistic LPSZ-like cluster simulations.
In Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) cluster cosmology, two tools are needed to be able to exploit data from large scale surveys in the millimeter-wave domain. An accurate description of the IntraCluster Medium (ICM) pressure profile is needed along with the scaling relation connecting the SZ brightness to the mass. With its high angular resolution and large field of view, The NIKA2 camera, operating at 150 and 260 GHz, is perfectly suited for precise cluster SZ mapping. The SZ Large Program (LPSZ) of the NIKA2 collaboration is dedicated to the observation of a sample of 38 SZ-selected clusters at intermediate to high redshift and observed both in SZ and X-ray. The current status is that all LPSZ clusters have been observed and the analysis toward the final results is ongoing. We present in detail how NIKA2-LPSZ will obtain a robust estimation of the SZ-Mass scaling relation and how it will be used to obtain cosmological constraints.
Dusty starless cores play an important role in regulating the initial phases of the formation of stars and planets. In their interiors, dust grains coagulate and ice mantles form, thereby changing the millimeter emissivities and hence the ability to cool. We mapped four regions with more than a dozen cores in the nearby Galactic filaments of Taurus and Perseus using the NIKA2 camera at the IRAM 30-meter telescope. Combining the 1mm to 2mm flux ratio maps with dust temperature maps from Herschel allowed to create maps of the dust emissivity index β1,2 at resolutions of 2430 and 5600 a.u. in Taurus and Perseus, respectively. Here, we study the variation with total column densities and environment. β1,2 values at the core centers (Av =12 – 19 mag) vary significantly between ~ 1.1 and 2.3. Several cores show a strong rise of β1,2 from the outskirts at ~ 4 mag to the peaks of optical extinctions, consistent with the predictions of grain models and the gradual build-up of ice mantles on coagulated grains in the dense interiors of starless cores.
This study presents the first millimeter continuum mapping observations of two nearby galaxies, the starburst spiral galaxy NGC2146 and the dwarf galaxy NGC2976, at 1.15 mm and 2 mm using the NIKA2 camera on the IRAM 30m telescope, as part of the Guaranteed Time Large Project IMEGIN. These observations provide robust resolved information about the physical properties of dust in nearby galaxies by constraining their FIR-radio SED in the millimeter domain. After subtracting the contribution from the CO line emission, the SEDs are modeled spatially using a Bayesian approach. Maps of dust mass surface density, temperature, emissivity index, and thermal radio component of the galaxies are presented, allowing for a study of the relations between the dust properties and star formation activity (using observations at 24μm as a tracer). We report that dust temperature is correlated with star formation rate in both galaxies. The effect of star formation activity on dust temperature is stronger in NGC2976, an indication of the thinner interstellar medium of dwarf galaxies. Moreover, an anti-correlation trend is reported between the dust emissivity index and temperature in both galaxies.
The Mexico-UK Submillimeter Camera for AsTronomy (MUSCAT) is a continuum camera in the 1.1-mm band for the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), with 1458 lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors distributed across six arrays. Installed on the telescope at the end of 2021, we present the characterization of the detector beams of four of the six arrays based on the beam map observations of bright point sources developed during the first commissioning campaign between February and June 2022. With all the observations, we estimate the average positions of each detector with an average error in azimuth of less than 0.70 arcsec and less than 1.05 arcsec in elevation. From the positions, we created the coadded maps of all the detectors, from which we selected only eight observations to calculate the mean beam width of MUSCAT-LMT, of 6.32 +/- 0.36 arcsec x5.78 +/- 0.19 arcsec. By stacking the maps, we identify the sidelobes with three main structures whose amplitudes are similar to 3% with respect to the main beam.
We present a morphological analysis of a set of spiral galaxies from the NIKA2 Guaranteed Time Large Program, IMEGIN. We have fitted a single Sérsic model on a set of broadband images, from ultra-violet (UV) to millimeter (mm) wavelengths, using the modelling code Statmorph. With the recently acquired NIKA2 1.15- and 2-mm observations, it is possible to extend such a morphological analysis to the mm regime and investigate the two-dimensional (2D) distribution (exponential, Gaussian) of the very cold dust (<15 K). We show preliminary results of the 2D large-scale distribution of stars and dust in spiral galaxies, how they relate to each other, and highlight how they differ from galaxy to galaxy.
The NIKA2 camera operating at the IRAM 30-m telescope excels in high-angular resolution mapping of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect towards galaxy clusters at intermediate and high-redshift. As part of the NIKA2 guaranteed-time, the SZ Large Program (LPSZ) aims at tSZ-mapping a representative sample of SZ-selected galaxy clusters in the catalogues of the Planck satellite and of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, and also observed in X-ray with XMM-Newton or Chandra. Having completed observations in January 2023, we present tSZ maps of 38 clusters spanning the targeted mass (3 < M500/1014M⊙ < 10) and redshift (0.5 < z < 0.9) range. The first in-depth studies of individual clusters highlight the potential of combining tSZ and X-ray observations at similar angular resolution for precised mass measurements under the hydrostatic assumption MHSE. These were milestones for the development of a standard data analysis pipeline to go from NIKA2 raw data to the thermodynamic properties of galaxy clusters for the upcoming LPSZ data release. Final products will include measurements of the mean pressure profile of unprecedented quality and MHSE-observable scaling relation using a distinctive SZ-selected sample, which will be key for ultimately improving the accuracy of cluster-based cosmology.