Parallel sessions

The sky at submillimetre wavelengths reveals a wealth of physical and chemical information, probing science questions on topics from planetary atmospheres to the large-scale structure of the Universe. Observations in this regime are key to understanding how stars and galaxies form and grow: with the bulk of emission from newly formed stars shrouded by dust, investigating the physical processes of star formation is impossible without submillimetre telescopes. Interferometric facilities such as ALMA and NOEMA have revolutionised high-resolution imaging of submillimetre processes, but their single-dish counterparts are a necessary complement, providing a route to otherwise inaccessible large-scale, faint phenomena, surveying, and locating those rare sources that can be targeted for detailed follow-up. The ability to image large areas of sky, and accessing the wealth of information obtained from doing so using spectral lines, continuum emission and dust polarization in the submillimetre, is critical to several key astrophysical questions: What is the chemistry of bodies in our Solar System? How do stars form and grow? How do galaxies grow and evolve? What is the structure of the Universe? Detecting faint and extended structures, collecting large, statistically robust and invariant samples of rare or time-varying sources, and observing sufficient areas of sky to be sensitive to large-scale variations all require telescopes with large fields of view and collecting area. In this session we will bring together the UK submillimetre astrophysics community and discuss both the current state of the field and its future prospects. We will review the unique science opportunities of single dish telescopes, exploring the discoveries that JCMT, APEX, IRAM 30m and similar facilities make possible, as well as considering the future landscape for single dish submillimetre observatories, like the 50-m AtLAST concept. With the AtLAST design study well underway, we are exploring the future discoveries that next-generation facilities will enable.