The University of Tokyo will build a project at 5,640 meters altitude in the Atacama Desert
The atmosphere is thin and there is little water vapor… The dry climate also helps
The optimal environment for observing the “infrared rays” emitted by distant stars
It should be used to determine the birth of galaxies and the origin of planets
The Atacama Observatory (TAO) of the University of Tokyo is installed at 5640 m altitude in the Atacama Desert in Chile. At these high altitudes there is less water vapor around, so the infrared rays of the stars can be seen clearly. A panoramic view of the top of the Canantor Plateau in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where the University of Tokyo’s Atacama Observatory (TAO) is located, provided by the University of Tokyo. The fact that the Atacama Desert is a dry area with little water vapor is useful for infrared observation. Provided by the University of Tokyo
#.In front of a large telescope installed on the island of Hawaii, in the United States, a researcher looks with a perplexed expression at a photo of astronomical objects taken some time ago. The researcher, who had been carefully observing the photo for a while, suddenly screamed. This is because the protagonist of the photo was a comet that academics had never known until now.
The joy of discovering a new comet with one’s own hands was momentary, and the expression on the researcher’s face as he examined the comet’s size and direction of flight gradually hardened.
This is because the Earth was in the path of a comet with a diameter of up to 10 km and the size of Mount Everest. Earth is facing the risk of a comet impact. 10 km corresponds to the size of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
American films released in 2021 <돈 룩 업>This is the introduction. In the film, even though the crisis is imminent, humanity is unable to change the direction of the comet’s flight in time due to its own political positions and economic interests. And eventually it dies out.
What’s interesting is <돈 룩 업>The telescope that announced the beginning of the accident is not a fiction. Really exists. This is the “Subaru Telescope” located at an altitude of approximately 4200 m on Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. Japan is operational.
Including the Subaru Telescope, there are 12 high-performance astronomical telescopes operated by the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. This group of telescopes is called the “Maunakea Observatory”.
However, recently, another observatory was built at a “historic” altitude, higher than the Mauna Kea Observatory. Why does the scientific community want to see the stars from such a high place? There’s a reason.
The highest altitude in the world: ‘5640 m’
On the 30th of last month, an astronomical observatory was inaugurated in South America. The name is “The University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO)”. It will contain an astronomical telescope and auxiliary facilities built and operated by the University of Tokyo.
TAO, which took a total of 26 years from planning to completion, is attracting extraordinary attention from the scientific community. This is due to the altitude of the terrain where the observatory is located.
TAO is the highest observatory in the world. It was built on top of the Chanantor plateau in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and has an altitude of a whopping 5,640 meters. It is more than twice as high as Mount Baekdu (2744 m). It is about 1,500 meters higher than the Mauna Kea Observatory on the island of Hawaii, a representative “high-altitude observatory.” The altitude of TAO is such that it is difficult for people to breathe. You must bring an oxygen tank.
In 2009, the University of Tokyo built a mirror that collects starlight at the same place as TAO, that is, a small test telescope with a primary mirror diameter of 1 meter, and has already planted the flag as “the highest astronomical observatory in the world”.
However, TAO has a large-diameter primary mirror of 6.5 meters, which is much larger than the primary mirror of the small test telescope. The larger the primary mirror, the more faint and distant stars can be seen. By building TAO with adequate observation capabilities, we have secured the location of the closest astronomical observatory to the sky.
Infrared light easy to observe thanks to low water vapor content
Why bother building an astronomical observatory in such a high place? This is because I want to observe infrared rays correctly.
The light falling on Earth is divided into visible light, ultraviolet rays with a disinfectant effect and infrared rays with heat. Among them, infrared rays are largely mixed with starlight coming from very far away. This is because light has a strong tendency to turn into infrared light as it travels a long distance. By observing infrared rays you can even see dust and clouds floating in space, that is, stars beyond nebulae.
The problem is that infrared rays are not easily observable in the atmosphere. This is because the water vapor contained in the atmosphere absorbs infrared rays. For this reason, if you want to see infrared rays well with a telescope installed on the ground, you need to go to a place where the atmosphere is thinner and there is less water vapor, that is, in a high place such as the top of a mountain.
You can see infrared rays better if you use a space telescope that comes out of the atmosphere. However, space telescopes are smaller than ground-based telescopes. This is because it must be loaded into the spacecraft’s cargo bay. If the size becomes small, the various parts cannot be installed sufficiently, so the observation capacity is bound to decrease.
This means that TAO, which is a ground-based telescope but operates at high altitudes where the atmosphere is thin, is a good compromise for infrared observations.
Another advantage is that the annual rainfall in the Atacama Desert, where TAO is installed, is only 15 mm. This means that it is an area with little water vapor which interferes with infrared observation.
“Due to its high altitude and dry environment, TAO will be the only ground-based telescope in the world capable of clearly seeing mid-infrared wavelengths,” the University of Tokyo said in an explanatory material. Mid-infrared rays refer to infrared rays with a wavelength range between 3 and 8 μm (micrometers).
The University of Tokyo added: “We plan to start large-scale observations starting next year,” and added: “TAO will be used to discover the process of galaxy formation and the origin of planets.”
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