Black box under desert could hold key to discovering alien life

[Judi Lynn]

The most precise instrument of its kind ever built is 10 times stronger than the most powerful spectrograph in operation today.
13:59, UK,
Friday 09 February 2018



The VLT in the Atacama, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Pic: ESO

A black box locked away in solitude beneath the world's driest desert in northern Chile could be vital in the search for alien life.

The box is the most precise scientific instrument of its kind ever built; more than 10 times stronger than the most powerful spectrograph in operation today.

Nicknamed "Espresso", it will be connected to a facility of four telescopes so massive they are collectively referred to simply as the Very Large Telescope (VLT), where it will scan the skies for planets beyond our solar system.

In silence, buried beneath the facility on the Paranal mountain in the Atamaca desert, the black box will analyse the wobble in distant stars to see if that wobble was caused by an Earth-like planet orbiting it.

More:
https://news.sky.com/story/black-box-beneath-desert-could-hold-key-to-discovering-alien-life-11242465







More images of the Very Large Telescope, Atacama Desert, Chile:

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrB8p_jAn5aiTYA3wuLuLkF;_ylc=X1MDOTYwNTc0ODMEX3IDMgRiY2sDZWFlcjdmOWNnbDI5ZyUyNmIlM0Q0JTI2ZCUzRGZFVE9PSzFyWUgzS3VfNWJGaWk4THF3a19jX3JYc19ya1E2azM1dGQ0N2NwM1EtLSUyNnMlM0RkayUyNmklM0Q0YzVVTHJLaVoycHB3Qk9WWDZ1TARmcgMEZ3ByaWQDYzFOYVFUSHhRck80TC5sRHlZaHk5QQRtdGVzdGlkA251bGwEbl9zdWdnAzAEb3JpZ2luA2ltYWdlcy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzQzBHF1ZXJ5A1RoZSBWTFQgaW4gdGhlIEF0YWNhbWEgVmVyeSBMYXJnZSBUZWxlc2NvcGUEdF9zdG1wAzE1MTgyMDc3MjcEdnRlc3RpZANudWxs?gprid=c1NaQTHxQrO4L.lDyYhy9A&pvid=JIiKHjEwLjHlO2d6WQqJMABFMjYwMAAAAABHl0yE&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&p=The+VLT+in+the+Atacama+Very+Large+Telescope&ei=UTF-8&iscqry=&fr=sfp#id=8&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Ff%2Ff0%2FMoonset_over_ESO's_Very_Large_Telescope.jpg&action=close

[CrispyQ]

1. So cool!

More very cool photos at link!

[CatMor]

2. Fascinating.....

it's a European venture with no mention of the US being involved.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Short version: it's a very high precision Eschelle grating-based spectrometer.

Reading up on Eschelle gratings was interesting. See this doc http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~george/ay122/Ay122a_Spectroscopy.pdf p29ff for interesting illustrations.

[CaptainTruth]

4. Thanks for posting!

With all the political crap consuming me, it's nice to have a bit of science for a change.