Successfully created the world's largest virtual telescope

Scientists at the Paranal Astronomical Observatory in northern Chile said they have combined the signals of all four large optical telescopes at this station to create the largest virtual optical telescope. gender.

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According to Jean-Philippe Berger, the French astronomer participates in "connecting" the telescopes with interferometry, saying that after nearly a year of conducting the work, the scientists once first observed successful testing with this virtual optical telescope and confirmed it could be used for astronomical observations in the future.

Successful connection of signals received from the four telescopes allows scientists to obtain a virtual mirror with a diameter equivalent to 130m, thus being able to see more clearly, especially observing the throne. stars so young and some distant galaxies so far are out of sight.

Paranal Observatory - rated the most modern in the world - is located at the Atacama Desert and is 2,635m above sea level.

Paranal astronomical observatory in the Atacama desert.

It consists of two groups of optical telescopes, the first known as the Very Large Telescope (VLT - Very Large Telescope), consisting of four telescopes, each with a diameter of 8 meters, and the second group of 4 telescopes. Small telescope, each mirror only 1.8m in diameter.

Earlier, in October 2010, these small telescopes were connected by interferometry.

Building huge optical telescopes is a very difficult task, Berger said, so scientists must use interferometry to improve astronomical observation.

The Paranal Observatory is operated by the European Observatory in the South (ESO), an astronomical research organization founded in 1962, currently involving 15 countries, including Germany and France. , English, Dutch and Italian.

With the ideal geography and climate for astronomical observations, the Atacama Desert (where the sky is always clear for more than 300 nights per year) will be the place to place the European Large Telescope (E-ELT). , will be the world's largest telescope.

This telescope has a main mirror with a diameter of 42m. The project will be completed in 2018 after 7 years of construction at an estimated cost of 1 billion euros.

Earlier, scheduled for 2013, the ALMA telescope, also built in the Atacama desert, is the world's largest telescope at the time and is a joint project between Europe, the US and East Asia, will be completed.