The telescope is located atop the Sierra Negra volcano in Puebla, picked up a galaxy at a distance of 12 million light years
Friday June 17, 2011 Notimex | El Universal21:00
PUEBLA .- The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) has reached an important milestone in the history of the project, June 1, 2011, when the observations were made to three millimeters in "Detector redshift." This was reported by the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE).
The LMT is a bi-national project led by INAOE in Mexico and the University of Massachusetts in the U.S., publicly funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) in Mexico and the National Science Foundation in the United States.
The telescope is located at the top of Tliltépetl or Sierra Negra volcano in the state of Puebla, four thousand 581 meters above sea level and is unique in its kind in the world.
Detector redshift is an spectrometer capable of measuring molecular emission to great distances in the Universe, which the LMT has begun to make observations at wavelengths of telescope design.
The parabolic antenna is designed with a collecting area of 50 meters in diameter, of which 32 are operational at this time, and captures radiation in the range of 350 to 75 GHz, which corresponds to wavelengths of 0.85 to four millimeters.
Messier 82 (M82), the first observed object is a galaxy of relatively nearby starburst type, located at a distance of 12 million light years.
These galaxies experience intense outbreaks of star formation, in the case of M82 are induced by the gravitational interaction with the companion galaxy M81.
The cold gas injected into the central regions of the galaxy by the interaction causes a large supply of energy as infrared and millimeter radiation, exciting the interstellar medium of M82 and favors the molecular emission lines shown in the figure.
The LMT has been detected in only half an hour a large collection of emission lines of organic molecules, some of which do not occur naturally on Earth.
Alfonso Serrano Pérez-Groves, project principal investigator, said "without doubt, is the starting point of what will be years and years of fruitful research for Mexico and other nations'.
He noted that "not only provide views of the distant galaxies in the Universe, but also allow us to make a detailed study of the conditions that existed after the Big Bang."
Following these first observations, the LMT has received signals from distant objects, including carbon monoxide detection in galaxies SMM J2135-0102, known as the Tab and MM18423 +5938, whose light is emitted when the universe was only 21 and 12% respectively of its current age.
The light from these galaxies is amplified by gravitational lensing nearby and are curious systems that will study dark matter in the universe.
The scientific director of LMT, David H. Hughes added that "this is a clear demonstration that the requirements scientists with which designed the LMT are realistic, and although the LMT is not yet fully optimized, already allow important research on the early universe."
The final alignment of the primary mirror of the LMT began in December 2010 and was completed in April, allowing the first tests of the entire system with millimeter-wave receivers, said Peter Schloerb, LMT researcher at the University of Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, Alberto Carramiñana Alonso, director of the INAOE, pointed to "a great effort to bring this project forward and to sustain future, we need continued support both human and financial resources."
He emphasized that "we are confident that we will have the support of government, industry and academia."
Scientists from all over the world are waiting to see the putting into operation of the telescope, which the national scientific community will have preferential access.
The Large Millimeter Telescope is located on top of Tliltépetl in the state of Puebla (Foto: INAOE )
Friday June 17, 2011 Notimex | El Universal21:00
PUEBLA .- The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) has reached an important milestone in the history of the project, June 1, 2011, when the observations were made to three millimeters in "Detector redshift." This was reported by the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE).
The LMT is a bi-national project led by INAOE in Mexico and the University of Massachusetts in the U.S., publicly funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) in Mexico and the National Science Foundation in the United States.
The telescope is located at the top of Tliltépetl or Sierra Negra volcano in the state of Puebla, four thousand 581 meters above sea level and is unique in its kind in the world.
Detector redshift is an spectrometer capable of measuring molecular emission to great distances in the Universe, which the LMT has begun to make observations at wavelengths of telescope design.
The parabolic antenna is designed with a collecting area of 50 meters in diameter, of which 32 are operational at this time, and captures radiation in the range of 350 to 75 GHz, which corresponds to wavelengths of 0.85 to four millimeters.
Messier 82 (M82), the first observed object is a galaxy of relatively nearby starburst type, located at a distance of 12 million light years.
These galaxies experience intense outbreaks of star formation, in the case of M82 are induced by the gravitational interaction with the companion galaxy M81.
The cold gas injected into the central regions of the galaxy by the interaction causes a large supply of energy as infrared and millimeter radiation, exciting the interstellar medium of M82 and favors the molecular emission lines shown in the figure.
The LMT has been detected in only half an hour a large collection of emission lines of organic molecules, some of which do not occur naturally on Earth.
Alfonso Serrano Pérez-Groves, project principal investigator, said "without doubt, is the starting point of what will be years and years of fruitful research for Mexico and other nations'.
He noted that "not only provide views of the distant galaxies in the Universe, but also allow us to make a detailed study of the conditions that existed after the Big Bang."
Following these first observations, the LMT has received signals from distant objects, including carbon monoxide detection in galaxies SMM J2135-0102, known as the Tab and MM18423 +5938, whose light is emitted when the universe was only 21 and 12% respectively of its current age.
The light from these galaxies is amplified by gravitational lensing nearby and are curious systems that will study dark matter in the universe.
The scientific director of LMT, David H. Hughes added that "this is a clear demonstration that the requirements scientists with which designed the LMT are realistic, and although the LMT is not yet fully optimized, already allow important research on the early universe."
The final alignment of the primary mirror of the LMT began in December 2010 and was completed in April, allowing the first tests of the entire system with millimeter-wave receivers, said Peter Schloerb, LMT researcher at the University of Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, Alberto Carramiñana Alonso, director of the INAOE, pointed to "a great effort to bring this project forward and to sustain future, we need continued support both human and financial resources."
He emphasized that "we are confident that we will have the support of government, industry and academia."
Scientists from all over the world are waiting to see the putting into operation of the telescope, which the national scientific community will have preferential access.
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