Sub-Orbital Space Flights & Satellite Exploration
Science & Reason on Facebook: tinyurl.com ESOcast 13: A sharper view of the Universe with the VLT Interferometer. In principle, the larger a telescopes mirror, the finer the details it can see. Continuing to increase the size of telescope mirrors is not an easy task, so astronomers have come up with a new technology to see even finer details: interferometry. This observational technique combines the light received by two or more telescopes and allows them to act as a single unit with a mirror diameter equivalent to the distance between the telescopes. Engineers designed the VLT so that it can also be used as an interferometer. Along with the four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes, four mobile 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) were included in the overall VLT concept to form the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). The ATs can move between 30 different stations, and at present, the telescopes can form groups of two or three for interferometry. — Please subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — Imagine looking up at the night sky and seeing details on the surface of a star millions of millions of kilometres away. Imagine having eyesight so keen that you could check out the surroundings of a black hole. Using ESOs Very Large Telescope Interferometer at Paranal, astronomers are now making these fantasies a reality. Each of the four VLT Unit Telescopes has a primary mirror with a diameter of 8.2 metres. Such …
Tags: stars, View, Astronomers, Telescopes
ESOcast 10: GigaGalaxy Zoom Project – The Sky, From The Eye To The Telescope. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — In the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, ESO has launched a new project aimed at connecting the sky as seen by the unaided eye with that seen by hobby and professional astronomers. The project, called GigaGalaxy Zoom, reveals three amazing, ultra-high-resolution images of the night sky that online stargazers can zoom in on and explore in an incredible level of detail. The reward is the most breathtaking dive ever made into our Galaxy, linking the sky seen by all with the cosmos studied by astronomers. In this episode of ESOcast we will explore the unique and amazing GigaGalaxy Zoom project, which reveals the whole night sky as it appears with the unaided eye from one of the darkest deserts on Earth. The project allows users to zoom in on a rich region of the Milky Way with the magnification offered by a hobby telescope and then to go one step further, using the power of a professional telescope to explore details of an iconic nebula. Most of the photographs comprising the three GigaGalaxy Zoom images were taken from La Silla and Paranal, two of ESOs observing sites in Chile. The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendour of the night sky at these ESO sites, which are the most productive astronomical observatories in the world. — ESOcast is produced by ESO, the …
Tags: way, International, La, year
J, a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in astronomy. ESO is the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. Created in 1962, ESO provides state-of-the-art research facilities to European astronomers and astrophysicists and is supported by Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the …
Tags: Ultra, NASA, Spitzer, Paranal
