First images out of ALMA project

[FBD]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2044840/Worlds-complex-telescope-takes-pictures-deepest-space-quest-knowledge-outer-universe.html

This is the remarkable first picture taken by the new $1.3billion radio telescope sitting high in the Chilean Andes.

It shows two galaxies colliding in a view no other telescope on Earth or in space could capture.

The shot is a teasing glimpse of the capabilities of the Atacama Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope - this picture has been taken using only a quarter of the antennae it will have when it comes into full operation in 2013.

But even now, this shot of the Antennae Galaxies is astonishing - showing off the telescope's exceptional power at detecting 'cold' matter using radio waves. The combined image shown would not be visible at all to visible-light and infrared telescopes.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/04/article-2044840-0E359E5700000578-113_964x864.jpg

[Godfather]

Very, very cool. It's gunna look so bad-ass when we collide with Andromeda galaxy

Too bad it's going to be 3 billion years from now :(

[deebakes]

http://i.imgur.com/J1fpT.gif

[deebakes]

so i assume the colors are then artificially added, is that the case? :-k

[Griffin]

Very, very cool. It's gunna look so bad-ass when we collide with Andromeda galaxy

Too bad it's going to be 3 billion years from now :(


I better ice down some more beer.

[Shady]

so i assume the colors are then artificially added, is that the case? :-k

Somewhat. A lot of telescopes operate on levels that are not part of our visible spectrum. The computers analyze the readings a create an image that we can see and understand. Its a little ridiculous when you consider how small the visible electromagnetic spectrum is compared to the frequency bands that the telescopes can operate on. Thank god we've got millions of colors to play with.

[Deepsepia]

so i assume the colors are then artificially added, is that the case? :-k

yes, pretty much anything you see from these is going to be "false color" -- in this case, this isn't a "telescope", its a set of callibrated antennas, generating a dataset from interferometry. Colors are assigned, not natural.

[deebakes]

makes you wonder what it would really look like to the human eye, if this recapitulates what part of the visual spectrum we would see...

[Shady]

yes, pretty much anything you see from these is going to be "false color" -- in this case, this isn't a "telescope", its a set of callibrated antennas, generating a dataset from interferometry. Colors are assigned, not natural.

Actually this instance is considered a telescope. A telescope is a device used to collect electromagnetic radiation. Doesn't always have to be made of glass lens'.

And I'm sure seeing to galaxies collide would be stunning. Wish I could see it with the naked eye.

[Acid Trip]

Actually this instance is considered a telescope. A telescope is a device used to collect electromagnetic radiation. Doesn't always have to be made of glass lens'.

And I'm sure seeing to galaxies collide would be stunning. Wish I could see it with the naked eye.

We'll have a front row seat. It'll look cool for a minute or two and then everything on our planet will be dead.

[Muddy]

so i assume the colors are then artificially added, is that the case? :-k

Tha'ts the first thing I thought, as well.

[FBD]

so i assume the colors are then artificially added, is that the case? :-k

Its no different than the visible spectrum displayed - the data is just assigned a visible color that differs in a somewhat aesthetically pleasing way :thumbsup: this stuff is longer wavelength...much longer, so it is more diffuse.