Post by uforn on Jun 10, 2010 1:19:18 GMT 1
British Scientists Launch Major Radio Telescope
British astronomers are launching a telescope to search for the origins of the universe and even to find intelligent alien lifeforms.
The universities of Portsmouth, Oxford and Southampton are joining forces with experts from around the country to construct the first major radio telescope to be built in the UK for decades.
The first stage of the European Low Frequency Array (Lofar) telescope involves 96 radio antennae being erected this week in a field at the Chilbolton Observatory near Andover, Hampshire.
This will be followed with 5,000 separate antennae being stationed all over Europe with some already in place in the Netherlands, Germany with others planned in France, Sweden and Poland.
Professor Bob Nichol, of the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said: ''The Lofar telescope will produce an enormous volume of data which will enable a significant amount of science, from monitoring the sun's activity or 'space weather' to potentially searching for alien intelligence.
''Maybe we can answer the age-old question 'Are we alone?'.''
The Lofar will collect data which the scientists hope will enable them to detect when the first stars in the universe were formed as well as observe some of the most distant galaxies.
This could help them to reveal how the universe evolved.
The antennae installed across Europe will work at the lowest FM frequencies accessible from Earth and will be connected using sophisticated computing and high-speed internet.
A supercomputer based in the Netherlands will use digital electronics to combine the signals from the antennae to make images of the entire radio sky.
Professor Rob Fender, of the University of Southampton and principal investigator of the Lofar-UK project, said: ''Lofar is an amazingly simple concept because the antennae are made from everyday components.
''But it is also immensely complex because of the huge amounts of radio data that these antennae produce.
''At the Chilbolton site, seven petabytes of raw data will be produced each year, which must be transferred in real time to Holland.
''That's like streaming 100 high definition TV channels for every second of every day for the next five years.''
Lofar-UK is funded through a collaboration of UK universities with the SEPnet consortium (www.sepnet.ac.uk) and the UK Science and Technologies Facilities Council.
The Lofar-UK website is www.lofar-uk.org and includes regular updates and photographs.
I wonder if the British Scientists will Disclose there findings to us?
Source:
www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7810454/British-scientists-launch-major-radio-telescope.html