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The new TAO observatory is located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Astronomers there want to find out more about dusty space regions.
On Wednesday, at the summit of the 5,640-meter-high Cerro Chajnantor mountain in northern Chile University of Tokio Atacama Observatory (TAO) opened. It is the highest telescope in the world. It is no coincidence that it is also located in one of the driest zones on earth, as Scinexx reports.
The 8.5 meter high telescope is intended to allow astronomers to carry out undisturbed investigations Infrared range make possible. “Thanks to its high altitude and dry environment, TAO will be the only ground-based telescope in the world that allows clear observations in the mid-infrared range,” explains TAO Director Takashi Miyata.
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Better view
Through the extreme dryness, which prevails in the Atacama Desert, the atmosphere there is particularly clear. Because the air above the telescope contains hardly any moisture, astronomers can observe distant galaxies, stars and planets undisturbed Turbulence examine what would absorb or interfere with infrared radiation.
The TAO observatory is equipped with very advanced devices that are characterized by special optics and sensors. Researchers also have a special one Spectograph called Simultaneous-Color Wide-Field Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (SWIMS). This should make it possible to observe a very large area of the sky simultaneously in two different wave ranges of light.
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Star-forming regions and black holes
Thanks to this special equipment, astronomers hope to gain new insights into star formation regions. With the SWIMS spectograph, the researchers want to do various things galaxies investigate and learn more about the Basic structures of the universe experience. This also includes the formation of supermassive black holes. Another special device called Mid-Infrared Multi-Field Imager is intended to help take a closer look at particularly dusty zones in space.
Because the Atacama Desert in Chile is so dry, this location is particularly suitable for astronomical observations. That’s why this is happening there at the moment Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) built. It will be the largest telescope in the entire world. In addition to the TAO telescope, Cerro Chajnantor is also home to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescopes and the APEX telescope.
