Abstract

In this talk I will present an update on SCUBA -2, a 10000 pixel submillimetre imaging camera for the James Clerk Maxwell telescope. SCUBA -2 has been one of the most challenging projects ever undertaken by UK astronomy in that completely new technologies have been needed to realise the ambitious science goals. I will describe some of the critical technologies that have made SCUBA -2 a reality. Hopefully, by the time of this talk SCUBA -2 will have arrived safely in Hilo, Hawaii! Once it has been commissioned SCUBA -2 will play a key part in the JCMT Legacy Survey programme, which is currently just starting on the telescope. Single dish telescopes will still have a vital role to play in the era of the new generation interferometers, such as ALMA . The Cornell-Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT) is a 25m telescope to be located at 5600m near to the ALMA site. CCAT will work at the shorter submm wavelengths closer to the peak of the far-infrared background and the emission from cold, unevolved cloud cores. The challenges of CCAT and the megapixel camera that is being envisaged will be presented.