Um lugar para desvendar os mistérios do Universo frio
Esta bela panorâmica, obtida por Babak Tafreshi, um dos Embaixadores Fotográficos do ESO, mostra os últimos raios de Sol sobre o Planalto do Chajnantor, na região do Atacama, no Chile. No planalto encontra-se o telescópio Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), que pode ser visto à esquerda na imagem. É a partir deste local remoto na Terra, a 5000 metros acima do nível do mar, que o APEX estuda o "Universo frio".
O APEX é um telescópio com 12 metros de diâmetro, que observa nos comprimentos de onda do milímetro e do submilímetro. Os astrónomos que observam com o APEX podem ver fenómenos que seriam invisíveis em comprimentos de onda mais curtos. O telescópio permite estudar nuvens moleculares - regiões densas de gás e poeira cósmica onde novas estrelas nascem - que são escuras, uma vez que se encontram obscurecidas pela poeira, na radiação visível ou infravermelha, mas que brilham intensamente a estes comprimentos de onda relativamente longos. Os astrónomos utilizam esta radiação para estudar as condições químicas e físicas nestas nuvens. Esta janela de comprimentos de onda é também ideal para estudar algumas das mais primordiais e distantes galáxias do Universo.
Desde que começou as operações em 2005, que o APEX tem produzido muitos resultados científicos importantes. Por exemplo, o APEX juntou-se ao Very Large Telescope do ESO para detectar matéria que está a ser arrancada pelo buraco negro, que se encontra no centro da Via Láctea (eso0841), um resultado que se encontra entre as 10 Principais Descobertas Astronómicas do ESO.
Podemos ver grupos de penitentes brancos no solo em volta do APEX. Os penitentes são um interessante fenómeno natural, que se observa em regiões de elevada altitude, tipicamente a mais de 4000 metros acima do nível do mar. São finos picos de neve endurecida ou gelo, que apontam na direção do Sol, atingindo alturas que podem ir de alguns centímetros até vários metros.
O APEX é uma colaboração entre o Instituto Max Planck para a Rádio Astronomia (MPIfR), o Observatório Espacial Onsala (OSO) e o ESO. A operação do APEX no Chajnantor está a cargo do ESO.
A antena de 12 m do APEX baseia-se numa única antena protótipo construída para outro observatório no Chajnantor, o Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). O ALMA será uma rede de 54 antenas de 12 metros e 12 antenas de 7 metros, quando estiver completo em 2013. O ESO é o parceiro europeu desta infraestrutura internacional para a astronomia, que é uma parceria entre a Europa, a América do Norte e o Leste Asiático, em cooperação com a República do Chile.
Links
Créditos:ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Sobre a imagem
| Id: | potw1244a |
| Língua: | pt |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Data de divulgação: | 29 de Outubro de 2012 às 10:00 |
| Tamanho: | 19056 x 3359 px |
| Field of View: | 50° x 15° |
Sobre o objeto
| Nome: | Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, Chajnantor, Panorama |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope |
Mounted Image
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