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In the wavelength regime between 60 and 300 microns there are a number of atomic and molecular emission lines that
are key diagnostic probes of the interstellar medium. These include transitions of [CII], [NII], [OI], HD, H2D+, OH, CO,
and H2O, some of which are among the brightest global and local far-infrared lines in the Galaxy. In Giant Molecular
Clouds (GMCs), evolved star envelopes, and planetary nebulae, these emission lines can be extended over many arc
minutes and possess complicated, often self absorbed, line profiles. High spectral resolution (R> 105) observations of
these lines at sub-arcminute angular resolution are crucial to understanding the complicated interplay between the
interstellar medium and the stars that form from it. This feedback is central to all theories of galactic evolution. Large
format heterodyne array receivers can provide the spectral resolution and spatial coverage to probe these lines over
extended regions.
The advent of large format (~100 pixel) spectroscopic imaging cameras in the far-infrared (FIR) will fundamentally
change the way astronomy is performed in this important wavelength regime. While the possibility of such instruments
has been discussed for more than two decades, only recently have advances in mixer and local oscillator technology,
device fabrication, micromachining, and digital signal processing made the construction of such instruments tractable.
These technologies can be implemented to construct a sensitive, flexible, heterodyne array facility instrument for
SOFIA. The instrument concept for StratoSTAR: Stratospheric Submm/THz Array Receiver includes a common user
mounting, control system, IF processor, spectrometer, and cryogenic system. The cryogenic system will be designed to
accept a frontend insert. The frontend insert and associated local oscillator system/relay optics would be provided by
individual user groups and reflect their scientific interests. Rapid technology development in this field makes SOFIA the
ideal platform to operate such a modular, continuously evolving instrument.
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