A space mission that will be launched with the objective of searching exoplanetswill have the income of Chili that will provide an astronomical instrument built by the Astro Engineering Center of the Pontifical Catholic University (UC) of Chile, reported the same university.
After several years of work through a international consortium that integrates UC, the “first light” of “DISHspec“, a astronomical tool which will make it possible for Chile to join the space mission, as explained by the educational institution in a statement.
This fact “allows the country to position itself at the international avant-garde in search of extrasolar planets similar to Earth,” added the institution, which plans to launch the mission in 2026 together with other entities.
He observation instrument will allow us to select the most promising candidates for life in the universe, identified by the European Space Agency (ESA), through its mission DISH which has its launch planned for within two years.
The work and task consisted of a group of researchers dedicated himself to the recovery of a telescope who had stopped providing his services, according to Leonardo Vanziprofessor of Engineering who directs the Instrumentation Laboratory of the UC Astro Engineering Center.
What objectives do they have and who is part of the project?
“After the recovery of ESO 1.52 meter telescope (European Southern Observatory) at the La Silla Observatory (northern region of Coquimbo), we achieved the first light of instrument within the planned schedule,” added the also doctor in Astronomy at the University of Florence, Italy.
He Chilean financing to the project was provided by the National Research Agency and Development of the southern country. “Now we are ready to carry out astronomical observations and support the PLATO space mission from Chile,” he commented Vanziresponsible for the design and construction of the spectrograph, which analyzes light or sound to obtain a spectrum.
This entire project is the result of years of work in the area of instrumentation and astronomical technology “which today allows us to collaborate with the most advanced centers in the world” and which also “are a tool that promotes development and prototyping new technologiesand the training of new scientists, astronomers, engineers and technicians”.
He PLATOSpec consortium this compound also by the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, responsible for the modernization of the telescope, and the Thuringian State Observatory of Tautenburg Germany, in charge of the instrument calibration unit. The Adolfo Ibáñez University of Chile is also part and participates in the prosecution and data analysis.
Source: Ambito
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