An upgrade to GMRT by 2018

#space #telescope #India #GMRT #radioFrequencies #SquareKilometerArray #astronomy

The Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) will soon be upgraded, as the observatory has already entered the last phase of its up-gradation. The upgrade will make this the world’s largest astronomy telescope operating at low radio frequencies, until Square Kilometer Array (SKA) comes into existence by 2023.

Currently 75-80 percent of the upgrades have been completed.

GMRT, an array of 30 antennas spread across a 30-km diamter region, is used by astronomers from all over the world.

Currently, GMRT allows astronomer to use 150 MHz, 234 MHz, 325 MHz, 610 MHz and 1000 MHz to 1400 MHz, with a maximum bandwidth of 32 MHz. However, after the upgrade is complete, the astronomers will be able to use any frequency between 120 MHz to 1460 MHz, and it will have a maximum bandwidth of 400 MHz.

This improved facility will help to get 100 times more accurate and stable readings.

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This is amazing. One of the best telescopes such as GMRT, located in India, a rare discovery.

Constructing the largest telescope

#construction #telescope #space #astronomy #planets #ELT #Europe #Chile #stars

The European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being built in Chile, and when completed, it will be the world’s largest optical telescope (about five times larger than current ones). The main mirror of the telescope will measure 39 meters across and will be located on a 3,000-meter-high mountain in the Atacama Desert. It will begin operations in 2024. The construction costs are estimated at $1.12 billion.

The telescope will have the ability to find smaller planets and image larger ones, going as far as characterizing their atmospheres. This is being considered one of the greatest examples of the possibilities of science, and will help in discoveries of planets orbiting other stars, which in turn might be exo-planets.

Atacama Desert was chosen because of its dry atmosphere that provides perfect observing conditions. By the 2020s, the region will have almost 20 percent of the World’s astronomical infrastructure.

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A telescope with better range and clearer observation. A great chance for humanity to know more about space & universe, spot some exoplanets, and some aliens.

A solar system, similar but much older than ours

L2 Puppis, a solar system about 208 light-years away from Earth. An international team of astronomers is using the ALMA radio telescope to study this solar system.

The L2 Puppis is about 10 billion years old, about twice the age of our Sun. Five billion years ago, the star was an almost perfect twin of our Sun as it is today, with the same mass. One third of this mass was lost during the evolution of the star.

Professor Leen Decin of KY Leuven Institute of Astronomy said that our Sun will become a giant red star and will be 100 times bigger than its current size, in a few billion years. This will probably lead to the destruction of closer planets like Mercury and Venus, though what will happen to the Earth is not yet known.

After that the sun will also experience an intense mass loss, which will reduce it to the size of the Earth but will be much heavier. This will probably happen about 7 billion years from now. Read the full article here!