Un lugar para desvelar los misterios del universo frío
Esta hermosa imagen panorámica tomada por Babak Tafreshi, un Fotógrafo embajador de ESO, muestra los últimos rayos de luz bañando el Llano de Chajnantor en la región chilena de Atacama. El Llano es hogar del telescopio APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment), que puede verse a la izquierda de esta panorámica. Desde este remoto lugar de la Tierra, a 5.000 metros sobre el nivel del mar, APEX estudia el “universo frío”.
APEX es un telescopio de 12 metros de diámetro que observa la luz en longitudes de onda milimétricas y submilimétricas. Los astrónomos que observan con APEX pueden ver fenómenos que serían invisibles en longitudes de onda más cortas. Este telescopio les permite estudiar nubes moleculares — las densas regiones de gas y polvo cósmico en las que nacen nuevas estrellas — que son oscurecidas por el polvo en los rangos visible o infrarrojo, pero que brillan en estas longitudes de onda relativamente más largas. Los astrónomos utilizan esta luz para estudiar las condiciones químicas y físicas que se dan en las nubes. Este rango de la luz también es ideal para estudiar algunas de las galaxias más tempranas y distantes del universo.
Desde que inició sus operaciones en 2005, APEX ha producido muchos resultados científicos importantes. Por ejemplo, APEX, junto con el telescopio VLT (Very Large Telescope) de ESO, detectó la deformación de materia provocada por el agujero negro central de la Vía Láctea (eso0841), uno de los resultados que se encuentran entre los Top 10 de los descubrimientos astronómicos de ESO.
Los cúmulos de penitentes blancos pueden verse alrededor de APEX. Los penitentes son curiosos fenómenos naturales que se dan en regiones de gran altitud, normalmente a más de 4.000 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Son finos picos de nieve o hielo endurecidos, con una especie de hojas que apuntan al Sol, y que pueden medir desde unos pocos centímetros hasta varios metros.
APEX es una colaboración entre el Instituto Max Planck de Radio Astronomía (MPIfR), el Observatorio Espacial de Onsala (OSO) y ESO. Las operaciones de APEX en Chajnantor son responsabilidad de ESO.
El plato de 12 metros de APEX se basa en un prototipo de antenna ideado para otro observatorio en Chajnantor, el conjunto ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). Cuando temine su construcción en el año 2013, ALMA será un conjunto de 54 antenas de 12 metros y doce antenas de 7 metros. ESO es el socio europeo de esta instalación astronómica internacional, que es una colaboración entre Europa, América del Norte y Asia Oriental en cooperación con la República de Chile.
Enlaces
Crédito:ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Sobre la imagen
Identificador: | potw1244a |
Idioma: | es-cl |
Tipo: | Fotográfico |
Fecha de publicación: | 29 de Octubre de 2012 a las 10:00 |
Tamaño: | 19056 x 3359 px |
Field of View: | 50° x 15° |
Sobre el objeto
Nombre: | Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, Chajnantor, Panorama |
Tipo: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope |
Mounted Image
Formatos de imagen
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