Otro Día Perfecto en Paranal
Los ondulados cerros rojos se extienden debajo del cielo excepcionalmente claro y azul que es típico del Observatorio Paranal de ESO. A pesar de que los domos del telescopio se cierran al amanecer, y nada parece moverse en la superficie de este árido desierto, el Very Large Telescope de ESO (VLT) nunca descansa. Desde temprano en la mañana, un equipo de ingenieros y técnicos ha estado trabajando duramente para preparar los telescopios e instrumentos para otra "noche perfecta“.
El Cerro Paranal de 2600 metros de altura sobresale en el centro de esta vista panorámica, tomada mirando hacia el sur. Esta cumbre aplanada es la sede del VLT, el complejo astronómico óptico e infrarrojo cercano basado en tierra más avanzado del mundo. El VLT tiene cuatro Unidades de Telescopio (UTs) de 8,2 metros, más cuatro Telescopios Auxiliares (ATs) de 1,8 metros. En esta fotografía, sólo se puede ver dos de los recintos UT además del más pequeño VLT Survey Telescope (VST).
Hacia la derecha del Cerro Paranal, en el fondo se puede ver el mar de nubes que normalmente cubre la costa del Océano Pacífico – a sólo 12 km de distancia. La fría corriente oceánica normalmente mantiene la capa de inversión térmica de la atmósfera bajo una altura de 1500 metros, haciendo de esta remota área del Desierto de Atacama chileno en la II Región de Chile una de las locaciones más secas de la Tierra y una perfecta ventana hacia el Universo. La atmósfera aquí es extremadamente seca y clara, y tiene muy baja turbulencia, ofreciendo las condiciones más apropiadas para observaciones astronómicas ópticas e infrarrojo cercanas.
Por esta razón, el Cerro Armazones de 3046 metros de altura, ubicado a sólo unos 20 km al este de Paranal, fue seleccionado como la locación para el futuro European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Con un espejo primario de 42 metros de diámetro, el E-ELT será el ojo más grande del mundo hacia el cielo.
Esta fotografía fue tomada desde un cerro vecino, que alberga el Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) de 4,1 metros. VISTA comenzó operaciones a fines de 2009 y es el telescopio más reciente en ser agregado a la lista en el Observatorio Paranal de ESO. VISTA es el mayor telescopio de medición en el mundo.
Enlaces
Crédito:ESO/José Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org)
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1101a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 3 de Enero de 2011 a las 10:00 |
| Tamaño: | 5529 x 2625 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | Cerro Paranal, Paranal |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Facility |
Mounted Image
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