ATA and SETI Far into the Universe
“I am very excited to be supporting one of the worlds most visionary efforts to seek basic answers to some of the fundamental question about our universe and what other civilizations may exist elsewhere,” said Allen. “I am a big proponent of leveraging revolutionary technology and design and applying it to important problems in science. The developments taking place with this new instrument will not only enables us to realize a lot of bang for our research and development buck, but it will also change the landscape of how telescopes will be built in the future. An instrument of this magnitude, which will result in the expansion of our understanding of how the universe was formed, and how it has evolved, and our place therein, is the reason I am the primary supporter of its development, design and construction.” (http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_ata_040325.html)
Three and a half years ago, SETI completed three years of research and development in order to unveil a three-tier construction plan for the Allen Telescope Array—the newest multiple use radio telescope array. Investor Paul G. Allen committed $13.5 to support its first and second constructional phase, the ATA-32 an ATA–206. Prior to this, the research and development was accomplished through the funding of $11.5 million dollar gift from the Allen Foundation.
A general–purpose radio telescope, Space.com reports that the ATA will provide “fundamentally new measurements and insights into the density of the very early universe, the formation of stars, the magnetic fields in the interstellar medium, and a host of other applications of deep interest to astronomers.”
With 42 radio dished now activated and collecting data from the universe’s furthest reaches of the Universe on October 11, 2007, this beginning section will be a part of the newly planned 350 radio dishes for radio astronomy research.
Located in a northern California arid dry area near Hat Creek, north of Lassen Volcanic National Park, the first test images were gathered on October 11, 2007, including radio maps of M31, the nearby Andromeda Galaxy, and the M33, the Pinwheel Galaxy. With 20-foot diameter radio dishes, the ATA uses “commercial telecommunications technologies combined with an innovative receiver design, and state-of-the-art digital processing technology” according to the Space.com article, “First Stage of Allen Telescope Array Opens for Business.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 8:43 pm and is filed under Space Agency News, Technical Concerns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
