De avond na een lange dag
De zonsondergang is een typisch teken van het einde van een werkdag. De stadslichten gaan één voor één aan wanneer mensen op weg gaan naar huis om te genieten van de avond en een goede nachtrust. Dit is niet het geval voor astronomen die werken bij een observatorium zoals ESO’s Panaral Observatory in Chili. Het observeren start zodra de zon onder de horizon staat. Alles moet gereed zijn voor de schemering.
Op deze panoramafoto staat de ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) tegen de prachtige avondschemering op Cerro Paranal. De koepels van de VLT vallen op in deze foto die is gemaakt toen de telescopen gereed werden gemaakt voor een nacht van onderzoek aan het universum. De VLT is de krachtigste, geavanceerde telescoop van de wereld. De VLT bestaat uit vier Unit Telescopes, de diameter van hun primaire spiegels is 8,2 meter, en vier mobiele 1,8-meter Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) die linksonder op de foto staan.
De telescopen kunnen samen worden gebruikt om één gigantische telescoop te vormen, de ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Hierdoor kunnen astronomen de kleinst mogelijke details observeren. Deze configuratie wordt maar een paar nachten per jaar toegepast. De 8,2-meter Unit Telescopes worden het grootste deel van de tijd individueel gebruikt.
De VLT heeft de laatste 13 jaar een grote invloed gehad op de astronomie. Met de komst van de VLT heeft de Europese astronomische gemeenschap een nieuw tijdperk betreden van ontdekkingen. Het in kaart brengen van de sterren die in een baan om het zwarte gat in het centrum van het Melkwegstelsel bewegen en de eerste afbeelding van een exoplaneet zijn twee noemenswaardige ontdekkingen die tot de topdrie van ESO’s Top 10 Astronomical Discoveries behoren.
De vier Unit Telescopes van de VLT zijn genoemd naar hemelobjecten in het Mapuche, Dit is een oude, inheemse taal die werd gesproken door de oorspronkelijke inwoners van Chili en Argentinië. Van links naar rechts: Antu (UT1, de zon), Kueyen (UT2, de maan), Melipai (UT3, het Zuiderkruis) en Yepun (UT4, Venus).
Deze foto is gemaakt door ESO Photo Ambassador, Babak Tafreshi.
Credit:ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Over de afbeelding
| Id: | potw1239a |
| Taal: | nl-be |
| Type: | Fotografisch |
| Publicatiedatum: | 24 september 2012 10:00 |
| Grootte: | 50000 x 9752 px |
| Field of View: | 200° x 40° |
Over het object
| Naam: | Panorama, Very Large Telescope |
| Type: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
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