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World's Most Powerful Telescope Begins Search For Origin of the Universe

Posted by samzenpus on from the where-the-sidewalk-ends dept.

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."

6 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Units by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    How large is a "large millimeter"?

    1. Re:Units by snowraver1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's actually exactly an inch. The Americans were tired of being hassled for not using SI units, so they just renamed them.

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  2. Re:People are starving! by snowraver1 · · Score: 1, Funny

    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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  3. humph.. telescope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ya'll don't need no fancy-schmancy teley-scope to see the church on the corner

    1. Re:humph.. telescope... by wierd_w · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think one of the problems with modern aastronomy is that they often cannot help BUT see that church down the street.

      I think it might have something to do with the las-vegas style neon lights, dancing searchlight beams, the well illuminated "second coming landing pad" which tries earnestly to coax jesus to put his foot down there, or the fact that it is owned and operated by Landover Ministries.

      But then again, I am one of those heathen "unsaved" that only makes 30k/year, and am excluded from even bronze level membership, so maybe I hold a little bit of jealous bias when I say that it would be a good thing to regulalrly cut power to that light pollution retching eyesore so that astronomers might get some REAL insight into the nature of the heavens, but I don't think it would be a whole lot of it.

  4. Re:Undersells ALMAs capabilities by durrr · · Score: 3, Funny

    So approximately how many megapixels?