[ad_1] This staggering performance is made possible through 189 sensors, known as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) that each measure 16 megapixels. The CCDs are packaged into units called “rafts,” which make up the camera’s focal plane. There are 21 rafts, plus four specialty rafts not used for imaging. Altogether, the focal plane contains 3.2 billion pixels. […]
Category: telescope
Puerto Rico’s Arecibo radio telescope suffers serious damage
[ad_1] Unfortunately, this is not the first setback Arecibo has endured. It faced dire financial trouble in 2008 and again in 2016. Then, like much of Puerto Rico, the observatory suffered significant damage during Hurricane Maria. Things seemed to be turning around in 2018 when a group led by UCF took over operations from the […]
NASA will use a huge stratospheric balloon to study newly-formed stars
[ad_1] The telescope itself consists of an 8.4-foot wide dish antenna along with mirrors, lenses and detectors designed to capture far-infrared light. Because far-infrared telescopes need to be kept cold, it will also carry a cryocooler that keeps the detectors close to -451.3 degrees Fahrenheit, just a shade above absolute zero. NASA, ESA, N. Smith […]
NASA successfully deploys the James Webb Telescope’s enormous mirror
[ad_1] Getting the new telescope to this stage has been a challenging endeavor for NASA — its launch was initially scheduled for 2018, but the intricacy of construction, number of parts needed and the fact that it’s the most complex telescope built to date meant its launch date has seen a series of delays. Now […]
Capturing the Sun’s Texas-sized cells in the highest detail ever
[ad_1] The DKIST images show the highly energetic actions that move heat from inside the sun to its surface. The convection process forces solar plasma to the surface where it forms the bright cell centers, which may channel energy into the solar atmosphere. Those bright spots could heat the corona at up to a million […]
How to safely watch Mercury pass in front of the Sun today
[ad_1] While Mercury travels around the Sun every 88 days, it’s tilted orbit means it only passes between the Earth and Sun about 13 times a century. This time, the transit will be visible in a lot of regions (including Euope and Africa), but folks in North and South America will have the best view. […]
The first ever black hole image lands scientists $3 million prize
[ad_1] The prize will be split between the 347 scientists that worked on the ground-breaking project, which produced the very first image of a black hole. The data behind the image — which could confirm or at least pose significant questions about our understanding of the universe — was equivalent to the number of selfies […]
The world’s largest telescope is one step closer to completion
[ad_1] The GMT is an international effort to create a telescope that delivers images 10 times clearer than those produced by the Hubble Space Telescope. When it’s up and running, the GMT will help scientists tackle some of the biggest questions, like are we alone in the universe? It will allow astronomers to collect more […]
Russia launches X-ray telescope to find ‘millions’ of black holes
[ad_1] Spektr-RG is expected to conduct an exceptionally detailed 6.5-year survey that could discover roughly 100,000 galaxy clusters, hundreds of thousands of active stars and about 3 million supermassive black holes. In addition to providing a more detailed map of the cosmos, it could help understand the formation of black holes, the distribution of matter […]