El VLT-Venus y el Cinturón de Venus
Antes de que caiga otra noche clara y estrellada sobre el Observatorio Paranal de ESO, hogar del Very Large Telescope (VLT), el cielo produce una paleta de intensos colores, exhibiendo un bello espectáculo para los observadores. Estos colores sólo pueden ser vistos con esta profundidad desde locaciones tales como Paranal, donde la atmósfera es extraordinariamente pura. Mirando hacia el oeste, sobre el Oceano Pacífico, el cielo de la puesta de Sol se vuelve naranja y rojo brillante. Sin embargo, en este caso, la fotografía mira hacia el Este, dando la espalda al Sol después de que se acaba de poner. La sombra gris-azulada sobre el horizonte es la sombra de nuestro propio planeta. Sobre ésta hay un brillo rosado conocido como el Cinturón de Venus, un fenómeno producido por la luz enrojecida de la puesta del Sol que es retroiluminada por la atmósfera de la Tierra.
En el centro de la fotografía está la cuarta Unidad de Telescopio (UT4) de 8,2 metros, parte del VLT. El nombre mapuche dado a UT4 es Yepun, que significa Venus. Tal como trabajan como telescopios individuales, grupos de dos o tres UTs pueden combinar su luz, usando una técnica llamada interferometría, que permite a los astrónomos ver detalles hasta 25 veces más finos que con telescopios individuales. El VLT también tiene cuatro Telescopios Auxiliares (ATs) de 1,8 metros, alojados en cúpulas móviles ultra compactas, que están totalmente dedicados a observaciones interferométricas. Dos de los ATs se ven en el fondo, con un tercio escondido.
La estructura amarilla semejante a un marco al frente de Yepun es la Plataforma Izadora M1, usada cuando el gigantesco espejo primario del telescopio (M1) de 8,2 metros es periódicamente recubierto. El delicado espejo y su estructura de soporte, que juntos pesan 45 toneladas, son sacados de la cúpula del telescopio y lentamente transportados unos dos kilómetros a un edificio de mantención en el campamento base de Paranal. Este delicado proceso es realizado con el mayor cuidado.
Enlaces
Crédito:ESO/José Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org)
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1102a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 10 de Enero de 2011 a las 10:00 |
| Tamaño: | 4256 x 2633 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | Very Large Telescope |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Sky Phenomenon : Light Phenomenon : Sunrise-Sunset Unspecified : Sky Phenomenon : Light Phenomenon : Ray-Shadow : Earth shadow Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
Formatos de imagen
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