2008 Woodie Awards
University of Milwaukee-Madison plays a major role in construction of world's largest optical telescope
John Rauber, KRT Wire Service
Issue date: 9/20/05 Section: World & Int'l
For astronomers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and around the world, the stars just got a lot brighter.
The first stunning images from the world's largest optical telescope, which UW scientists played a major role in building, were released recently.
Perched atop a remote 5,000-foot plateau in South Africa, the $28 million device is expected to be a dominant player in the world of astronomy for at least a decade, a device that should reveal new clues about everything from the most distant galaxies to comets that streak through our own solar system.
"It will make a huge difference to Wisconsin astronomy and a major impact on world astronomy," said John Mathis, an emeritus professor of astronomy at UW. "It will allow us to do research on objects that are too faint for other telescopes."
Known as the Southern African Large Telescope, or SALT, the device is made up of 91 hexagonal mirror segments. It is 11 meters across at its widest. At 10 meters in diameter each, the two W.M. Keck Observatory telescopes in Hawaii had been the largest optical telescopes in the world.
SALT is located about 220 miles from Cape Town near the Kalahari Desert in one of the "darkest" regions of the world with no nearby cities or other sources of light pollution.
Astronomers say it will provide an unprecedented view of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Its rotating design will allow it to peer into three-quarters of the visible sky.
An 11-member consortium that includes UW, the South African government and Rutgers University financed and built SALT. UW's contribution, second only to the South African government, is $5 million.
Several UW scientists still are in South Africa putting the finishing touches on SALT, including installation of its primary scientific instrument, a sophisticated spectrograph that sits six stories above the mirrors.
The spectrograph breaks light into thousands of colors and wavelengths, which allows astronomers to learn a tremendous amount more than if they were looking at a traditional optical image.
The first stunning images from the world's largest optical telescope, which UW scientists played a major role in building, were released recently.
Perched atop a remote 5,000-foot plateau in South Africa, the $28 million device is expected to be a dominant player in the world of astronomy for at least a decade, a device that should reveal new clues about everything from the most distant galaxies to comets that streak through our own solar system.
"It will make a huge difference to Wisconsin astronomy and a major impact on world astronomy," said John Mathis, an emeritus professor of astronomy at UW. "It will allow us to do research on objects that are too faint for other telescopes."
Known as the Southern African Large Telescope, or SALT, the device is made up of 91 hexagonal mirror segments. It is 11 meters across at its widest. At 10 meters in diameter each, the two W.M. Keck Observatory telescopes in Hawaii had been the largest optical telescopes in the world.
SALT is located about 220 miles from Cape Town near the Kalahari Desert in one of the "darkest" regions of the world with no nearby cities or other sources of light pollution.
Astronomers say it will provide an unprecedented view of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Its rotating design will allow it to peer into three-quarters of the visible sky.
An 11-member consortium that includes UW, the South African government and Rutgers University financed and built SALT. UW's contribution, second only to the South African government, is $5 million.
Several UW scientists still are in South Africa putting the finishing touches on SALT, including installation of its primary scientific instrument, a sophisticated spectrograph that sits six stories above the mirrors.
The spectrograph breaks light into thousands of colors and wavelengths, which allows astronomers to learn a tremendous amount more than if they were looking at a traditional optical image.