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World's Most Powerful Telescope Begins Search For Origin of the Universe
MrSeb writes "The largest astronomical installation in the world is now operational. ALMA, or the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, is a vast radio telescope made out of 66 12- and 7-meter dish antennae situated 5,000m above sea level, in Chile. Its purpose is to seek out new life and new civilizations and to boldly go where no telescope has gone before. But no, seriously: its job is to peer into the past and investigate ancient stars and nebulae, peer at exoplanets that might support human (or alien) life, and hopefully learn more about interstellar creation and destruction. For now only 20 out of 66 antennae are in place, but when it is complete — late next year — it will have a resolving power far greater than Hubble, according to the European Space Observatory (ESO) that operates ALMA."
As an astrophysicist who's highly interested in using ALMA, I can say that this short description undersells the capabilities of ALMA. While the image resolution is going to be greater than that of Hubble, ALMA will also be observing wavelength ranges previously unobserved from the ground. While space based instruments such as Herschel have observed some of these ranges in the past, these observations don't even come close to the spatial resolution of ALMA.
I dont understand why they spend money for that, if they have a contact with UFO
How large is a "large millimeter"?
You have a nurse at work? Do you work in the healthcare industry? Are you Dr. Bob? Maybe you just need to have your subluxations released.
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God save Foot and Fahrenheit, Mile and Gallon!
It's like that one episode of Futurama?
ya'll don't need no fancy-schmancy teley-scope to see the church on the corner
it will have a resolving power far greater than Hubble,
Didn't know they operate in the same frequency band.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Interesting that you should mention that. Did you know that there is a prevailing theory among Chiropractors that black holes are actually galactic subluxations of the endo-universal spinal cord? Probably not, seeing as how Big Pharma has fought hard to keep any such inconvenient views thoroughly suppressed. Hopefully this telescope will be the first of many enlightening steps toward correcting the health of the universe's nervous system. It is believed that if these subluxated singularities can be set right, we may finally correct the dangerous accumulation of waste heat that threatens to destroy us all in the future. I've even written to the careless, callous people at CERN to chide them for using their Large Hadron Subluxator to further damage the galaxy's spine (have you noticed the shape of the accelerator? A DISC!) but they haven't written back to me. Maybe Dr. Bob will have better luck.
Make sure, though, when looking through a telescope, to use proper posture to protect your own spinal health. If you think you've been bending over and craning your neck too much, make an appointment to see a Chiropractor to keep your nervous system in working condition.
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The Space Nutters, who say this planet is just a mud ball, have told me that progress can only happen in space. How is this possible??
Why is this being compared to hubble? Hubble records information in 390 to 750 nm while alma records 0.3 to 9.6 mm. I'm not saying it's not valuable, just that the comparison was a poor choice.
ESO means European Southern Observatory not European Space Observatory!
If anyone remembers the awesome time lapse video of the ESO's VLT at Paranal, here's a downloadable time lapse video of this telescope by the same guy. FYI: the VLT is at an altitude of about 2600m, this one is at about 5000m.
Now, the government that can re-create a mini nova will really be able to destroy something.. I give you mini nova in your FACE, shields sold seperately!
Small correction to the summary, ESO is not the only organization operating ALMA. It is an international partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.
God is French- why would he save the imperial measurement system?
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
What definitions are being used to declare this the "largest astronomical installation in the world" as opposed to the VLBA? The VLBA claims to be the "world's largest, full-time astronomical instrument." I can't seem to find exact info on ALMA's baseline, but i doubt it exceeds 8611 km.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Farnsworth: No, I remembered that I'd built one last year.
Backronym? I don't know if this qualifies as a potential backronym, since the acronym is of english words, but alma is "soul" in spanish (and it's in chile).
Except it's probably goatse for the universe.
Seriously, that is highend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Origin-of-the-World.jpg
Yes, yes, I'm sure people will say 'there is no center' but, really, if the universe is expanding then there should be some kind of 'relative' center.
Has anyone tried to computer the red shifting and blue shifting of all the galaxies out there to see if there is some 'common' center they are shifting away from?
Apparently I fail at parody.
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It is good tto see there is something else for the ALMA Committee-array telescope to do than look for the beginning of the universe. Since we are only at a fringe, not at the cutting edge, the light of the beginning has already passed us by.
For depending on the late arrival of light beamed long ago for our "time travel" we cannot ever see the beginning, which our system began with, itself. Unless, of course, we are able to mathematically generate mathematically circumstantial proofs for a unified curvature of the universe theory, wherein all curvature unite uniquely in a single direction, so that all light must curve back around to its own starting point and then beyond to retrace its own original route, or a spiral that crosses our trajectory.
In this lovely science-fiction construction we need only wait to see our own system history replay in the ALMA array display.
My friend's mother's name is Alma. I feel some good "yo mamma" jokes brewing here :)
I'll take off-topic, but the whole trolling thing... do you understand what trolling even is? Are you somehow bizarrely angry or incensed as a result of this nonsensical post? I do troll, but this was merely a "wtf" for my research friends... who will pick on me for having "terrible" Karma now... fuck you, all. =)
no, you win.
I predict it will be the same old, same old. .. they peer deeper into the past, discover the past receding! the origin STILL not visible. ASFAIK this has happened each time they have built a more powerful telescope.
So Europe has got ALMA, the Large Hadron Collider, the ITER power plan, the Arianne rockets and probably a few more.
How's liberalism and the race to making money working out for you, America? Can you please take that back now so we can go back 100 year to a more normal way of making money? You can plainly see you're not going anywhere, and you tempted the rest of the planet with your bullshit edge funds and whatnot. Some of us have money left for nice science projects that will actually make humanity move forward, but your banks are getting in the way. Thanks.