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Prototype Telescopes Complete Key Test

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the if-this-trend-continues dept.

Matthew Sparkes writes "Two prototype antennas for the world's largest array of millimeter-wave telescopes have passed a key test, working to track and image Saturn for more than an hour. Ultimately, ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is expected to resolve details 10 times finer than the Hubble Space Telescope when it is completed in 2012."

3 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Re:the use of space-telescopes? by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm actually beginning to wonder if space-telescopes still have their use

    It is hard to separate hype from reality. Hubble is used as the benchmark in many claims because of its popularity. But as you partially pointed out, there are some rough-spots in Earth-based techniques:

    * Spectrum coverage: some important frequencies are blocked by the atmosphere.
    * Ecology: Earth scopes are accused of messing up mountain peaks and views and "sacred lands".
    * Guide-stars: Some earth-bound techniques require bright guide-stars near a scene to compensate for atmospheric distortion. This limits their use in dim portions of the sky.
    * Southern hemisphere: It is hard to see all portions of the sky well from any given point on Earth.
    * Newness: Many of the hi-res earth-scope techniques are new and complicated. Without a reference point, such as Hubble images, they may be collecting unintended artifacts of the technology.

    But it is an interesting issue to consider.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  2. Re:Ow, cool. by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Call me back when they complete the Turing test.

    It would call you by itself

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  3. Re:More embargo than censorship. by Greg+Lindahl · · Score: 5, Informative

    The astronomy community does exactly what you're asking for, you're just not listening:

    * The data is made available to everyone after a short time delay

    * The software to reduce the data is given away for free

    * Our papers are generally available for free at http://lanl.arxiv.org/

    The point of the short delay is that the person who made the effort to write the proposal to get the telescope time deserves a reward: a short time to write the first paper about the results.

    If you look at other branches of science, they aren't nearly as good. But you're flaming your friends.