APEX, de schildwacht van Chajnantor
De Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescoop is naar de hemel gericht tijdens een heldere, maanverlichte nacht op Chajnantor. Chajnantor is een van de hoogstgelegen en droogste waarnemingslocaties ter wereld. Astronomische juweeltjes vullen de hemel boven de telescoop: de nalatenschap van de uitstekende omstandigheden die deze locatie in Chili's Atacama-regio biedt.
Links stralen de sterren die onderdeel uitmaken van het sterrenbeeld Scorpius (de Schorpioen). De angel van de Schorpioen wordt verbeeld door de twee heldere sterren die opvallend dicht bij elkaar te vinden zijn. De band die de hele hemel bestrijkt en op vage, stralende wolken lijkt, is het vlak van onze Melkweg.
Naast de Schorpioen zien we het sterrenbeeld Sagittarius (de Boogschutter) boven APEX' schotel. Tussen de Schorpioen en de Boogschutter is een fonkelende cluster sterren duidelijk zichtbaar. Dit is de open sterrenhoop Messier 7, ook wel bekend als de Ptolemaeuscluster. Eronder en iets naar rechts vinden we de Vlindercluster: Messier 6. Verder naar rechts – nét boven de schotel van APEX – zien we een vage wolk die eruitziet als een heldere vlek. Dit is de beroemde Lagunenevel (bekijk eso0936 voor een close-up).
Met een primaire schotel met een diameter van 12 meter is APEX de grootste submillimeter-golflengte-telescoop met een enkelvoudige schotel op het zuidelijk halfrond. Zoals de naam van de telescoop doet vermoeden, effent hij de weg voor het grootste submillimeterobservatorium ter wereld: de Atacama Large Millimeter/submilliter Array (ALMA), dat in 2013 gereed moet zijn (zie ook eso1137). APEX deelt het gebied met de 66 antennes van ALMA op de 5.000 meter hoge Chajnantor-hoogvlakte in Chili. De APEX-telescoop is gebaseerd op een prototype dat voor het ALMA-project is ontwikkeld en gaat op zoek naar zo veel mogelijk doelen die ALMA in ongekend detail zal gaan bestuderen.
ESO Photo Ambassador Babak Tafreshi heeft dit panoroma geschoten met een telelens. Babak is daarnaast ook de oprichter van The World At Night, een programma waarbinnen adembenemende foto’s en time-lapse-video’s worden gemaakt en tentoongesteld van bijzondere (historische) plekken tegen de achtergrond van sterren, planeten en andere hemelverschijnselen.
Meer informatie
APEX is een samenwerkingsverband van het Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), de Onsala Space Observatory (OSO) en ESO. Het gebruik van de telescoop is toevertrouwd aan ESO.
ALMA is een internationale astronomische faciliteit. Het is een project van Europa, Noord-Amerika en Oost-Azië, in samenwerking met Chili. De constructie en het gebruik van ALMA worden namens Europa geleid door ESO, namens Noord-Amerika door de National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) en namens Oost-Azië door de National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). De Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) leidt de samenwerking in goede banen en overziet de constructie, de commissioning en het gebruik van ALMA.
Links
- Informatie over APEX (Engels)
- ESO Photo Ambassadors (Engels)
Vertaling: Teun van Vijfeijken
ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Over de afbeelding
| Id: | potw1216a |
| Taal: | nl |
| Type: | Fotografisch |
| Publicatiedatum: | 16 april 2012 10:00 |
| Grootte: | 8500 x 4198 px |
| Field of View: | 60° x 40° |
Over het object
| Naam: | Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, Panorama |
| Type: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Facility |
Mounted Image
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