Un endroit pour dévoiler les mystères de l'univers froid.
Cette magnifique photo panoramique prise par Babak Tafreshi, un ambassadeur photographique d'ESO, montre les derniers rayons de soleil baignant le plateau de Chajnantor dans la région du désert d'Atacama au Chili. Le plateau est le domicile du télescope Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), que l'on peut apercevoir à gauche du panorama. Depuis cet endroit lointain à 5000 mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer, APEX étudie "l'univers froid".
APEX est un télescope de 12 mètres de diamètre qui observe la lumière à longueurs d'onde millimétriques et sub-millimétriques. Les astronomes qui observent avec APEX peuvent voir des phénomènes qui seraient invisibles à des longueurs d'onde plus courtes. Le télescope leur permet d'étudier les nuages moléculaires - de denses régions de gaz et de poussières cosmiques où les nouvelles étoiles naissent - qui sont noirs, assombris par la poussière dans la partie visible et infrarouge de la lumière, mais qui peuvent être très lumineuses à des relativement plus grandes longueurs d'onde. Les astronomes utilisent cette lumière pour étudier les conditions chimiques et physiques dans ces nuages. Cet intervalle de longueur d'onde est aussi idéal pour étudier quelque unes des galaxies plus jeunes et plus distantes de l'univers.
Depuis le début des opérations en 2005, APEX a produit un grand nombre d'importants résultats scientifiques. Par exemple, APEX s'est associé au Very Large Telescope de ESO pour déceler de la matière déchirée par le trou noir au centre de la Voie Lactée (eso0841), un résultat qui compte parmi le top 10 des découvertes astronomiques d'ESO ESO Top 10 Astronomical Discoveries
Des amas de "penitentes" blancs sont visibles sur le sol atour d'APEX. Les "penitentes" (espagnol pour pénitents) sont un curieux phénomène naturel trouvé dans les régions de haute altitude, typiquement à plus de 4000 mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer. Ce sont de fines pointes de neige durcie ou de glace, avec leur lames dirigées vers le soleil et qui atteignent de quelques centimètres à quelques mètres de hauteur.
APEX est une collaboration entre le Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR), l'Onsala Space Observatory (OSO) et ESO. Le fonctionnement d'APEX à Chajnantor est confié à ESO.
L'antenne de 12 mètres de diamètre d'APEX est aussi un prototype pour un autre télescope, l'Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). ALMA aura une panoplie de 54 antennes de 12 mètres et 12 antennes de 7 mètres quand il sera terminé en 2013. ESO est le partner européen dans ce complexe astronomique international, qui est une association entre l'Europe, l'Amérique du Nord et l'Asie de l'est, en collaboration avec la république du Chili.
En savoir plus sur:
Les ambassadeurs photographiques d'ESO.
Crédit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Crédit:ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
À propos de l'image
| Identification: | potw1244a |
| Langage: | fr-be |
| Type: | Photographique |
| Date de publication: | 29 octobre 2012 10:00 |
| Taille: | 19056 x 3359 px |
| Field of View: | 50° x 15° |
À propos de l'objet
| Nom: | Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, Chajnantor, Panorama |
| Type: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope |
Mounted Image
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