La Silla atrapa la luz verde
El mágico resplandor verde que domina el cielo en esta imagen de la semana es la luminiscencia nocturna (airglow, en inglés). No podrá verlo a simple vista, pero las sensibles cámaras pueden captar esta tenue luz emitida por la atmósfera de la Tierra, aunque solo en los lugares más oscuros. Se revela donde hay poca contaminación lumínica, como aquí, en el Observatorio La Silla de ESO, en las afueras del desierto chileno de Atacama.
Con su color verde, la presencia continua de la luminiscencia en el cielo no debe confundirse con las auroras dinámicas y danzantes. La luminiscencia atmosférica es un proceso químico desencadenado por la radiación ultravioleta del Sol, que hace que los átomos de la atmósfera superior emitan una luz muy tenue. Las auroras, por otro lado, son causadas por partículas cargadas, catapultadas al campo magnético de la Tierra. Y mientras que las auroras son espectáculos elusivos y de corta duración, la luminiscencia atmosférica se parece más a una música de fondo tranquila. El resplandor verde de esta imagen lo causan los átomos de oxígeno, pero también puede ser rojo o amarillo, dependiendo del tipo de átomos o moléculas que los causan.
Pero hay algo más que luminiscencia atmosférica escondida en esta vista de ojo de pez de La Silla. ¿Puede ver los tres telescopios? El telescopio de 3,6 metros de ESO, en la parte inferior, es el que parece soplar la Vía Láctea como si fuera humo. El telescopio suizo Leonhard Euler de 1,2 metros (arriba a la izquierda) también es bastante fácil de encontrar, pero el casi irreconocible Telescopio de Nueva Tecnología podría ser más difícil de encontrar (se esconde en la parte superior).
Ahora que ha encontrado los telescopios, ¿qué le parece verlos de cerca? Sí, de hecho puede visitarlos. No habrá luminiscencia atmosférica, ya que las visitas son durante el día para evitar interferir con el trabajo nocturno, y este fenómeno es invisible a simple vista, pero la visita a los telescopios lo compensa con creces.
Proyecciones alternativas de esta imagen
Crédito:J. Pérez/ESO
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw2514a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 7 de Abril de 2025 a las 06:00 |
| Tamaño: | 7418 x 7418 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | La Silla, Milky Way |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Sky Phenomenon : Night Sky : Milky Way Unspecified : Sky Phenomenon : Night Sky : Night glow Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
Formatos de imagen
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