Meeting the VLT...

[ollypenrice]

...or part of it!

Thanks to a friend and nieghbour I was given a tour of the Observatoire Astronomique Marseille Provence this week and found that several busy experts were kind enough to give generously of their time. Their explanations were always excellent and well pitched. I think this bit of kit was the star of the morning;

It's a narrowband filter destined to see active service on the NTT and VLT. These are altazimuthal telescopes with field de-rotators so this device will recieve light reflected through the hollow axis of one of the altitude bearings. Its path is reflected by two mirrors and then through a corrector which turns it from a conical beam to a parallel, at which point it goes through the interferometric ultra narrowband filter. This has plane glass surfaces a variable distance apart and metal coatings sometimes only three atoms thick. By varying the coatings and the distance apart of the two plane glass surfaces a wide range of very specific wavelengths can be isolated for study.

OAMP has a long experience in ultra violet space based observation so they are heavily involved in the Galex project. One of the researchers explained that, since galaxies at cosmological distances have their UV emission shifted towards the red, it can be studied on Earth. However, not enough is known about UV emision from nearer galaxies because the atmosphere impedes UV observation, so a satellite was designed to to allow more research into relatively close galaxy UV. With a good knowledge of both local and distant galaxy UV it is hoped that more will be learned abut galaxy evolution and star formation.

It was an amazing morning and a real pleasure to meet such experts on their home turf. They weren't just bright, they were incredibly hospitable and enthusiastic. Ah yes - and they zoomed around the place on those mini scooters that were such a menace around school about ten years ago.

Wheeee equals MC squared...

I needed a siesta that aternoon after listening to astro physics in French all morning.

Olly

[phat tony]

WOW Olly sounds like great way to spend a day. beautiful peace of kit, i cant say anymore, i feel WOW does the job. take care