The ALMA telescope has just made its first major discovery

IO9 ^ | Today 2:07pm | George Dvorsky

[BenLurkin]

Today is inauguration day for ALMA, the massive telescopic array that’s still under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert. But just because it’s not finished doesn’t mean astronomers haven’t been using it. The $1.5 billion telescope has just peered into the deepest realms of the universe, revealing some of the most distant star-spawning galaxies ever discovered....

[muawiyah]

Wow

[blueunicorn6]

$1.5 billion seems a little steep even for 26 satellite dishes. I could have done it for a billion. I would even throw in three months of free HBO.

[LibWhacker]

Just read an article about this telescope the other day. Didn’t expect to be reading about any of its discoveries so soon! Can’t wait for all 66 telescopes to come online. Bet it revolutionizes astronomers understanding of the Big Bang.

[colorado tanker]

ping.

[backwoods-engineer]

Excellent! I’ve corresponded with one of the principals on the ALMA, fascinated by his work with prism-based attenuators above 100 GHz. I was once designing a secure gigabit data link using the “water hole” at 145 GHz.

[STD]

Narrow beam burst communication is about making contact with superior technologic societies. Why we're so anxious to pry open that can of worms, snakes and lizards is way beyond my understanding. Should we be poking them in the beak with a sharp stick, or simply hiding out here in the distant reaches of the Milky Way minding our own business.

Robert Heinlein once posited that whatever new species we might blunder into would not be a friendly one.

You sound like you are a big Com guy, I'm interested in hearing more from you in the near future.

[BenLurkin]

“prism-based attenuators above 100 GHz. I was once designing a secure gigabit data link using the “water hole” at 145 GHz.”

http://www.moviesoundclips.net/download.php?id=2852&ft=wav

[itsahoot]

Bet it revolutionizes astronomers understanding of the Big Bang.

Not if they have a brain in their head, it won't.

[Caipirabob]

I’m guessing they found obamas budget cut proposal?

[Steely Tom]

The water hole, quote:

... refers to an especially quiet band of the electromagnetic spectrum between 1,420 and 1,666 megahertz...

Within this frequency range, interference (attenuation) due to interstellar water molecules is at a minimum, making it a good place (supposedly) to look for signals from other civilizations.

The irony is that "water holes" are places where different species of animals meet and gather in the (terrestrial) wild.

[BenLurkin]

Interesting!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin. An ‘extra, extra’ for APoD members.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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[houeto]

Thank you for the ping SunkenCiv. I would would not have seen this interesting article without it.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure, and thanks for the kind remarks!