Posted: 4/3/2019
Just read DESI lenses see first light The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument will begin operation later this year. (published 4/3/19)
After decades of being kind of overshadowed by other astronomical observatories, Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona is going to become again a world leading research institution.
“On April 1 the dome of the Mayall Telescope … opened to the night sky, and starlight poured through the assembly of six large lenses that were carefully packaged and aligned for a new instrument that will launch later this year. Just hours later, scientists produced the first focused images with these precision lenses—the largest is 1.1 meters in diameter” What an incredible moment!
This new telescope features the “Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI”. A marvel of technology:
“The finished DESI will measure the light of tens of millions of galaxies reaching back 12 billion light-years across the universe. It is expected to provide the most precise measurement of the expansion of the universe and provide new insight into dark energy, which scientists explain is causing this expansion to accelerate.
DESI’s array of 5000 independently swiveling robotic positioners, each carrying a thin fiber-optic cable, will automatically move into preset positions with accuracy to within several microns (millionths of a meter). Each positioner is programed to point its fiber-optic cable at an object to gather its light.
” (emphasis added)
Stay tuned!
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