![]() ![]() The large telescopes are named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are the names for the Sun, the Moon, the Southern Cross, and Venus in the language of the Mapuche people.įigure 2: Alternate view of ESO's Paranal Observatory hosting several world-class telescopes among them are the Very Large Telescope, the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, and the VLT Survey Telescope. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. The Interferometric Laboratory (partly subterranean) is at the center of the platform (image credit: ESO) The straight structures are supports for the rails on which the telescopes can move from one station to another. Also seen are some of the 30 "stations" where the ATs will be positioned for observations and from where the light beams from the telescopes can enter the Interferometric Tunnel below. Three 1.8 m VLTI ATs (Auxiliary Telescopes) and paths of the light beams have been superimposed on the photo. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-meter ELT (Extremely Large Telescope), which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.įigure 1: Aerial view of the observing platform on the top of Cerro Paranal, with the four enclosures for the 8.2-m UTs (Unit Telescopes) and various installations for the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) works in the infrared and is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile:, Paranal and Chajnantor. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organizing cooperation in astronomical research. ESO carries out an ambitious program focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and by Australia as a strategic partner. 1)ĮSO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organization in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. ![]() With this kind of precision, the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds (marcsec), equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred meters. The VLTI functions like a telescope with a mirror 200 m in diameter. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer), allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. It is the world's most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter ATs (Auxiliary Telescopes). VLT is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy at the beginning of the third Millennium. VLT is a telescope facility operated by ESO (European Southern Observatory) on the Cerro Paranal mountain in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile at an elevation of 2,635 m (coordinates: 24☃7'38''S, 70☂4'17''W). Astronomy and Telescopes VLT (Very Large Telescope) of ESO on Cerro Paranal Mission Status Sensor Complement ESPRESSO Hawk-I FLAMES FORS2 MATISSE GRAVITY MUSE References ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |