VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy)
VISTA ― il telescopio astronomico per survey nell'ottico e vicino infrarosso (o Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy in inglese) ― fa parte dell'Osservatorio del Paranal. VISTA lavora a lunghezze d'onda del vicino infrarosso ed è il più grande telescopio per survey al mondo. Il grande specchio, l'ampio campo di vista e i rivelatori molto sensibili ci daranno una visione completamente nuovo del cielo australe.
Il telescopio è installato sul picco vicino a quello del VLT (Very Large Telescope) e ne condivide le condizioni osservative eccellenti.
VISTA ha uno specchio principale di 4,1 metri di diametro. In termini fotografici può essere pensato come una macchina fotografica di 67 megapixel con una lente da 13 000 mm a f/3.25.
Nel cuore di VISTA c'è una macchina di 3 tonnellate, che contiene 16 speciali rivelatori d'avanguardia sensibili alla luce infrarossa.
Scienza con VISTA
Il tempo osservativo di VISTA sarà completamente dedicato a una mappatura sistematica del cielo e sei enormi survey pubbliche occuperanno la maggior parte dei primi cinque anni di attività del telescopio. Alcune osserveranno piccole zone di cielo per lunghi periodi per rivelare oggetti molto deboli, mentre altre studieranno l'interno cielo australe. Le osservazioni produrranno enormi raccolte di nuovi dati che consentiranno nuovi progetti astronomici che vanno dallo studio dei piccoli corpi del Sistema Solare alle indagini cosmiche sulla natura dalla materia oscura e dell'energia oscura. All'interno della nostra Galassia VISTA dovrebbe trovare nuove nane brune e verificare alcune teorie sulla natura della materia oscura. Con VISTA gli astronomi potranno costruire una mappa tridimensionale di una zona pari a circa il 5% dell'intero Universo osservabile. A distanze maggiori, VISTA sarà uno strumento molto potente per scoprire nuovi quasar e studiare l'evoluzione delle galassie e degli ammassi di galassie. Aiuterà a verificare la natura dell'energia oscura trovando ammassi di galassie lontani.
VISTA è stato progettato e sviluppato dal un consorzio di 18 Università del Regno Unito, con a capo la Queen Mary, University of London ed e' diventato un contributo materiale facente parte dell'accordo di accesso del Regno Unito all'ESO. La gestione del progetto del telescopio e la costruzione sono state affidate dal consiglio britannico Science and Technology Facilities Council al centro tecnologico di astronomia Astronomy Technology Centre (STFC, UK ATC).
Il telescopio è stato accettato provvisioriamente dall'ESO il 10 dicembre 2009 e dall'ESO viene attualemnte gestito.
Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy
Luogo:
Cerro Paranal
Altezza:
2518 m
Cupola:
Compact optimised cylindrical enclosure
Tipo:
Telescopio per survey nel vicino infrarosso
Disegno ottico:
Riflettore Ritchey-Chrétien modificato con lenti di correzione
Diametro del Primario M1:
4,10 m
Materiale del Primario M1:
ZeroDur
Diametro. Secondario M2:
1,24 m
Materiale. Secondario M2:
Astro-Sitall
Montatura:
forcella Alt-Azimuth
Data della prima luce:
11 dicembre 2009
Ottica attiva :
Yes
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