Direct formation of stars

1987/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

This telescope, which can be seen in the image, will be the largest of its forms and will shortly be placed in the Hawaiinn wick. This telescope will analyze the millimeter region of space.

Located on the 4200m high volcanic peak called Mauna Kea, the atmospheric water vapor will not prevent observations.

It has 15 m of diameter and studies frequencies higher than 300 GHz. Its antenna is composed of 276 panels and has an accuracy of more than three million millimeters. This aspect of the spectrum is virtually unexplored and is situated between radio astronomy and infrared astronomy.

This entry into the millimeter wave region will facilitate astronomers' study of dense gas clouds in space. These regions are opaque to visual rays, but are completely transparent to the rays located in the millimeter wave section.