TolTEC is an astronomical camera that will help you see the process of star formation

Despite regular statements about the discovery of new Earth-like planets, new objects in our solar system and other extremely entertaining discoveries, it is quite difficult for astronomers to study the universe and the processes of its formation. All because of not as fast as we would like, progress in astronomy. But soon things could change, because a group of scientists from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, together with their colleagues from the University of Arizona, started creating the most sensitive polarimeter chamber capable of seeing hitherto unexplored parts of the universe.

The camera was named TolTEC, and after its completion, the project will include about 7,000 sensors capable of distinguishing three different areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. The camera itself will be installed on the basis of the world's largest radio telescope Large Millimeter Telescope, which is located in Mexico, in a place called Pubela.

Novelty will be able to see even the processes that occur in the nuclei of comets, see the birth of new stars and the formation of galaxies.

According to the head of the group working on the creation of TolTEC, Professor Grant Wilson,

"The new camera will allow astronomers to study in detail the environment that existed at the time the nucleation of the first stars, galaxies and other large astrophysical objects began. The maps we have drawn show the state, the nearest environment and the exact location of objects and processes that we will study. "

The installation of a new camera will allow the Large Millimeter Telescope to scan the night sky hundreds of times faster. On the assurances of the creators, the use of the new camera will enable the telescope to collect a volume of data in a week, which now takes about five years to collect. TolTEC is expected to be operational in 2018, and the whole system will work together with another powerful Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/toltec-astronomicheskaya-kamera-kotoraya-pomozhet-uvidet-process-zarozhdeniya-zvezd.html.