Láser y Relámpago se Juntan
El Jueves 18 de Agosto, el cielo sobre el Observatorio Público Allgäu en Bavaria sudoccidental ofrecía una vista impresionante, con la noche iluminada por dos fenómenos muy diferentes: uno, un ejemplo de tecnología avanzada y el otro, el espectacular poder de la naturaleza.
Cuando ESO probaba la nueva unidad Wendelstein laser guide star disparando un poderoso rayo láser hacia la atmósfera, se acercaba una intensa tormenta eléctrica propia de los veranos de la región – una demostración muy visual del porqué los telescopios de ESO están en Chile y no en Alemania. Pesadas nubes grises lanzaban relámpagos cuando Martin Kornmesser, un artista visual del departamente de extensión de ESO, tomaba fotografías de la prueba para el ESOcast 34. Por pura coincidencia en el tiempo esta fotografía fue tomada justo cuando estalló el relámpago, resultando una imagen impresionante que parece una escena de una película de ciencia ficción. A pesar de que la tormenta aún estaba lejos del observatorio, el relámpago parece chocar con el rayo láser en el cielo.
Las estrellas guías láser son estrellas artificiales creadas a 90 kilómetros arriba en la atmósfera de la Tierra empleando un rayo láser. Las mediciones de esta estrella artificial pueden ser usadas para corregir el efecto de distorsión de la atmósfera en las observaciones astronómicas – una técnica conocida como óptica adaptativa. La unidad Wendelstein laser guide star es un diseño nuevo, que combina el láser con el pequeño telescopio que se usa para lanzarlo en una unidad modular única, que puede entonces ser colocado en telescopios más grandes.
El láser en esta fotografía es poderoso, con un rayo de 20 watts, pero el poder de un relámpago llega a un trillón (un millón de millones) de watts, ¡aunque por sólo una fracción de un segundo! Poco después que esta fotografía fuera tomada la tormenta llegó al observatorio, forzando el cierre de las operaciones por esa noche. Aunque puede que tengamos la habilidad de aprovechar la tecnología avanzada para dispositivos tales como las estrellas guías láser, aún estamos sujetos a las fuerzas de la naturaleza, no siendo el clima el menor de ellas!
Enlaces
Crédito:ESO/M. Kornmesser
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1136a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 5 de Septiembre de 2011 a las 10:15 |
| Tamaño: | 4134 x 2567 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | Allgäu Public Observatory |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Sky Phenomenon : Light Phenomenon : Lightning Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
Mounted Image
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