Mededeling
Definitief ontwerp voor nieuw VLT-instrument CUBES voltooid
7 augustus 2025
De Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES), een toekomstig instrument voor ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), heeft met succes de Final Design Review doorstaan. Nu ESO groen licht heeft gegeven voor de productie van het instrument, is de VLT een stap dichter bij een speciaal ultraviolet oog aan de hemel. CUBES zal onder andere op zoek gaan naar water in de planetoïdengordel en de ultraviolette kosmische achtergrond onderzoeken.
ESO heeft nu de bouw goedgekeurd van CUBES, een spectrograaf op de grond die specifieke waarnemingen kan doen aan ultraviolette of UV-straling bij 300-400 nm, een gebied van het lichtspectrum dat nog nooit eerder met zo'n hoge gevoeligheid met grote telescopen is onderzocht. Waarnemen in het ultraviolet vanaf de grond is ongelooflijk moeilijk omdat de atmosfeer van de aarde de meeste fotonen in dit lichtbereik blokkeert, terwijl ruimtetelescopen meestal te klein zijn om verre en zwakke objecten in dit golflengtegebied te kunnen zien. Dit maakt CUBES tot een langverwacht en revolutionair instrument.
Nu het groene licht is gegeven voor de productie, zal het CUBES-consortium - onder leiding van INAF, het Italiaanse nationale instituut voor astrofysica - binnenkort beginnen met de bouw. Het instrument zal naar verwachting later dit decennium het eerste licht zien, wanneer het wordt geïnstalleerd op een van de Unit Telescopes van de VLT.
Met CUBES kunnen astronomen de zwakste objecten in ons zonnestelsel, waaronder planetoïden en kometen, in het ultraviolet onderzoeken en meer te weten komen over hun samenstelling. Kometen zijn de overblijfselen van ons zonnestelsel en door ze te bestuderen kunnen onderzoekers ons eigen ontstaan beter begrijpen. In ons melkwegstelsel zal CUBES astronomen helpen om de overvloed aan belangrijke elementen in de atmosferen van sterren met ongekende nauwkeurigheid te bepalen, terwijl het in de extragalactische kosmos zal helpen om de normale (baryonische) materie in het gas rondom melkwegstelsels te ontrafelen en te bestuderen. Bovendien is CUBES bij uitstek geschikt om de ultraviolette kosmische achtergrond te bestuderen, een diffuse straling die de ruimte tussen sterrenstelsels doordringt en invloed heeft op de vorming van sterren.
Meer informatie
Het CUBES-consortium bestaat uit:
Italië: INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, en Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte;
UK: UK Astronomy Technology Centre (Science and Technology Facilities Council); Durham University Centre for Advanced Instrumentation;
Duitsland: Landessternwarte, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg;
Brazilië: USP - Institute for Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Science; Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica;
Polen: Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center;
Slovenië: University of Ljubljana, University of Nova Gorica;
ESO
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