Una torre para un reino de espejos
La torre central del Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) de ESO destaca nítidamente contra el cielo azul chileno en esta Imagen de la Semana. Del tamaño de un edificio de tres pisos, la torre parece impresionante por sí sola, pero es solo una pequeña parte de la superestructura que será el ELT.
Este esqueleto soportará tres de los cinco espejos del ELT, todos con diferentes formas y tamaños: M3 (en la parte inferior de la torre), M4 (en la parte superior) y M5 (en el centro). Juntos, guiarán la luz que el telescopio capta desde el espacio hasta sus instrumentos, que captan las imágenes y los datos. En este vídeo se puede ver cómo viaja la luz a través del telescopio.
M4, en la parte superior de la torre, será el espejo de óptica adaptativa más grande jamás construido. Su superficie puede deformarse, hasta 1.000 veces por segundo, para corregir la turbulencia atmosférica y las posibles vibraciones causadas por la estructura giratoria del telescopio o por los fuertes vientos. Esto es crucial para obtener las imágenes nítidas que la comunidad científica necesita para su investigación.
M5, en el centro de la torre, redirigirá la luz a los instrumentos científicos instalados en los laterales del telescopio. Este espejo de oscilación rápida (tip-tilt en inglés) redirigirá la luz hasta 10 veces por segundo para estabilizar las imágenes.
Como la torre con los tres espejos estará unida al centro de la celda del espejo principal del ELT, tiene que ser lo suficientemente ligera como para no deformar la estructura del espejo. Al mismo tiempo, debe ser lo suficientemente rígida como para garantizar que la torre se doble lo menos posible bajo su peso cuando el telescopio esté inclinado. Y todo ello dejando pasar el viento a través de la torre para evitar la formación de bolsas de aire que pudieran distorsionar las imágenes. ¡Un delicado equilibrio y una verdadera hazaña de ingeniería!
Enlaces:
Crédito:
ESO/F. Carrasco (CHEPOX)
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw2448a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 25 de Noviembre de 2024 a las 06:00 |
| Tamaño: | 5000 x 7500 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | Extremely Large Telescope |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
Formatos de imagen
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