Yebes 40 m radio telescope and the broad band Nanocosmos receivers at 7 mm and 3 mm for line surveys

Abstract

Context. Yebes 40 m radio telescope is the main and largest observing instrument at Yebes Observatory and is devoted to very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and single-dish observations since 2010. It has been covering frequency bands between 2 GHz and 90 GHz in discontinuous and narrow windows in most cases in order to match the current needs of the European VLBI Network (EVN) and the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA). Aims. The Nanocosmos project, a European Union-funded synergy grant, has enabled an increase in the instantaneous frequency coverage of the Yebes 40 m radio telescope, making it possible to observe many molecular transitions with single tunings in single-dish mode. This reduces the observing time and maximises the output from the telescope. Methods. We present technical specifications of the recently installed 31.5−50 GHz (Q band) and 72−90.5 GHz (W band) receivers along with the main characteristics of the telescope at these frequency ranges. We observed IRC+10216, CRL 2688, and CRL 618, which harbour a rich molecular chemistry, to demonstrate the capabilities of the new instrumentation for spectral observations in single-dish mode. Results. Our results show the high sensitivity of the telescope in the Q band. The spectrum of IRC+10126 offers an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio for this source in this band. On the other hand, the spectrum normalised by the continuum flux towards CRL 618 in the W band demonstrates that the 40 m radio telescope produces comparable results to those from the IRAM 30 m radio telescope, although with a lower sensitivity. The new receivers fulfil one of the main goals of Nanocosmos and open up the possibility to study the spectrum of different astrophysical media with unprecedented sensitivity.