Professor Nick Scoville, esteemed professor and principle investigator of the COSMOS survey, gave a lecture tonight on the revolutionary new telescope ALMA. ALMA is an NSF-funded telescope, operating in the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum, consisting of 66 individual radio dishes. It was built in the high mountains of the Andes in Northern Chile above 5,000 meters of elevation.
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| All photographs were taken by Christophe Marcade. |
We got started a little late due to some technical difficulties with the equipment in the lecture hall, but Professor Scoville regaled us with a broad discussion as to how both optical and radio telescopes work. He showed us photos from his visit to the ALMA site, and taught us how scientists use data from the various telescopes combined as an interferometer to get very high resolution images back of gas and molecular cloud structures where stars are being born. It was really an excellent talk!
After Professor Scoville's lecture, we hosted an expert Q&A panel answering questions on a variety of topics across astronomy, physics, and planetary science. Simultaneously, audience members were given the opportunity to spy the heavens with our telescopes set up on Beckman Lawn.
Thanks to everyone who attended, and again I'm sorry about the technical difficulties with the A/V setup. It won't happen again.
--Cameron
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