密歇根新闻广播 智利望远镜让天文学家更好地观察恒星

 

Telescope in Chile gives MSU astronomers¹ a better look at the stars

Way up in the Andes mountains sits a little bit of East Lansing. On the Cerro Pachón mountain in Chile, the Southern Astrophysical Research, or SOAR, telescope looks out at the stars. It’s a partnership² between four institutions including the University of North Carolina at Chapel³ Hill and Michigan State University. Talk about working remotely.

Chile is home to about 40% of the world’s astronomy infrastructure⁴, a figure that is expected to rise to 70% within the next few years. It’s because of the Andes mountains, which tower above the atmosphere for a clean view of the night sky. Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abram’s Planetarium⁵ at MSU explained.

“Atmosphere is not great for astronomy because it causes things to twinkle,” Schmoll said. “The northern part of Chile is incredibly dry, and that means you’ve got really clear nights, which we really need for astronomy. Michigan does not give that to us, it’s over 300 days of clear nights in Chile, in the northern part.”

Getting time on a telescope for projects is usually pretty difficult. Scientists have to submit proposals for their time and it’s often only for a short period. Since SOAR is a timeshare between four institutions, researchers at MSU are guaranteed three to four nights a month. This allows them to work on bigger projects that require longer stretches collecting data.

Funding is another hoop⁶ scientists have to jump through in order to work on these projects. It can often take years to get a grant, and scientific funding is incredibly competitive. Funding for projects that involve SOAR often come from the National Science Foundation, which Schmoll describes as focused on the big questions “that help us understand our place in the universe.”

Since COVID shutdowns took place, researchers haven’t been able to visit the telescope, but there is a remote observation area at the Abrams Planetarium. Astro-tourism is a big part of the Chilean economy. There are tours that take visitors up to the SOAR telescope and others nearby. Schmoll has visited a few times and said it’s “one of the most beautiful skies.”

“It’s breathtaking, I think is the best way to put it, and not just because you are at a really high altitude with less oxygen,” Schmoll said. “The Milky⁷ Way looks like a cloud in the sky. There are sometimes astronomers who haven’t seen the Milky Way in a long time, that when they go down they think clouds are rolling in, and no it’s just the Milky Way.”

This article was written by Stateside production assistant Olive Scott.

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 planetarium   

n.天文馆；天象仪

参考例句：

• The planetarium staff also prepared talks for radio broadcast.天文馆的工作人员还要准备讲稿给电台广播。
• It landed in a shallow basin fifty yards from the planetarium.它降落在离天文馆五十码处的一个浅盆地中。

6 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

7 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。