Fra Antu til Yepun – at bygge VLT
ESO fylder 50 i år og for at fejre dette vigtige jubilæum, vil vi give dig et indblik i vores historie. En gang om måneden i løbet af 2012 vil et særligt før-og-nu ugens billede vise, hvordan tingene har ændret sig i løbet af årtierne på La Silla- og Paranal-observatorierne, ESOs kontorer i Santiago de Chile og i hovedkvarteret i Garching ved München, Tyskland.
Very Large Telescope (VLT) er ESOs flagskib på Cerro Paranal i Chile, og består af fire gigantiske enhedsteleskoper (UT: Unit Telescope), der hver har et lyssamlende spejl på 8,2 meter i diameter. Dertil kommer fire bevægelige 1,8 meter hjælpeteleskoper. Denne måneds fotografier viser et enhedsteleskop under opførelse og et andet som det ser ud i dag.
Det indledende arbejde på bygningen til det første enhedsteleskop (UT1) kan ses på det historiske billede, der blev taget i slutningen af oktober 1995. Betonfundamentet var færdigt og den nedre, stationære del af bygningens metalstruktur var blevet fastgjort til det. De første stykker af den roterende del af teleskopets bygning var også på plads – begyndelsen på den brede spalte som teleskopet skulle observere igennem og den tunge horisontale struktur, der skulle understøtte skydedørene, kan ses i retning mod kameraet. Dette enhedsteleskop så sit første lys den 25. maj 1998 (se eso9820).
Ved indvielsen af Paranal i 1999 (se eso9921) fik hvert UT et navn på de indfødtes (Mapuche-stammen) sprog. Navnene – Antu, Kueyen, Melipal og Yepun på UT 1 til 4 i nævnte rækkefølge – repræsenterer fire fremtrædende og smukke objekter på himlen: Solen, Månen, stjernebilledet Sydkorset og Venus [1].
Det nutidige billede er af UT4, Yepun, som så sit første lys i september 2000 (se eso0028). Men det repræsenterer lige så godt som sin søster UT1, hele det færdigbyggede VLT, da alle fire UTer blev designet til at være identiske. De adskiller sig kun ved de sæt af instrumenter, der er til rådighed på hver, hvilket giver astronomer en bredere vifte af redskaber til at studere universet. Den gule rammelignende struktur foran Yepun er M1s løfteplatform, som kan bevæges mellem UTerne og bruges, når deres gigantiske 8,2 meter primærspejle i perioder fjernes og får ny belægning.
I årene siden det historiske billede blev taget, har det første UT fået et navn – Antu – og en familie, i takt med at de andre teleskoper har sluttet sig til på bjergtoppen. I dag er VLT verdens mest avancerede astronomiske teleskop til synligt lys, og Antu, Yepun og de andre teleskoper på Paranal har spillet en vigtig rolle i at gøre ESO til verdens mest produktive jordbaserede observatorium!
Noter
[1] Yepun blev oversat til ”Sirius” på tidspunktet for Paranals indvielse (se eso9921), men efterfølgende undersøgelser har vist at den korrekte oversættelse er ”Venus”.
Links
- Det historiske billede
- Det nutidige billede
- Sammenligning af det historiske og nutidige billede
- Mere om ESOs Very Large Telescope
Kilde
ESO
Om billedsammenligningen
| Id: | potw1249a |
| Udgivelsesdato: | 3. december 2012 10:00 |
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