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Astronomi costruiscono coi LEGO® l’osservatorio più all’avanguardia del mondo
29 Giugno 2017
Sono servite alcune delle menti più brillanti nelle scienze e tecnologie per costruire l’Osservatorio del Paranal dell’ESO in Cile, una delle strutture per telescopi più grandi e sofisticate del mondo. Ora, l’astronomo olandese Frans Snik e un gruppo di volenterosi aiutanti hanno creato coi LEGO® un modello unico dell’intera piattaforma del Paranal, con tanto di riproduzione dei quattro Unit Telescope (UT) da 8,2 metri del VLT, dei quattro Telescopi Ausiliari da 1,8 metri e di altri dettagli incredibilmente minuziosi [1].
Questo incredibile modello, unico nel suo genere, è stato donato all’ESO ed è esposto nel quartier generale dell’ESO a Garching, in Germania. Il modello sarà esposto al Planetario e Centro Congressi Supernova dell’ESO quando questo aprirà presso il quartier generale dell’ESO nella primavera del 2018.
Il modello della piattaforma del Paranal, in scala 1:150 circa, comprende i telescopi del VLT, la loro struttura a cupola e tutti gli strumenti usati sul vero VLT. Ha anche riproduzioni accurate del VST, di VISTA e del centro di controllo. Ognuno degli UT da 8,2 m sulla piattaforma del VLT è formato precisamente da 3104 pezzi, mentre l’intero modello della piattaforma del Paranal ha richiesto più di 25000 pezzi - oltre a molto tempo e pazienza! I telescopi ruotano e tutte le aperture e condotti della cupola si aprono e chiudono. I quattro Telescopi Ausiliari possono essere messi in posizione sui loro binari, proprio come quelli veri, mentre i tunnel del VLTI ospitano un interferometro funzionante in miniatura in grado di produrre frange reali.
Costruire un modello di telescopio è un ottimo modo per capire il funzionamento di complessi e moderni strumenti astronomici, e ogni persona sufficientemente ambiziosa (e con circa 5000 euro disponibili) può costruire la sua versione di questi enormi telescopi. Frans Snik sarà felice di fornire le istruzioni necessarie.
Come se non bastasse, anche l’Extremely Large Telescope dell’ESO, attualmente in costruzione vicino al Paranal, può essere costruito con i LEGO® in scala uguale a quella del modello del Paranal.
Note
[1] Il Paranal in LEGO® è nato nel 2014, quando Snik progettò e costruì il suo primo modello in LEGO® dell’Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) dell’ESO. In seguito venne concepito un modello in LEGO® degli Unit Telescope (UT) da 8,2 metri del VLT.
Links
- Manuale di costruzione del VLT coi LEGO® (PDF)
- Manuale di costruzione dell’ELT coi LEGO® (PDF)
- Lista dei mattoncini LEGO® per il modello del VLT: usate il freeware BrickStock per aprire questo file (.bsx compresso 7KB)
- Trovate qui la lista dei mattoncini LEGO® per il modello dell’ELT.
Contatti
Frans Snik
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University
Leiden, the Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 527 8431
Email: snik@strw.leidenuniv.nl
Richard Hook
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Cell: +49 151 1537 3591
Email: rhook@eso.org
Riguardo all'annuncio
Identificazione: | ann17038 |
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