Australian telescope maps the new atlas of the universe

A new powerful telescope has been developed by Australians, mapping three million galaxies at a speed which gives scientists unprecedented capabilities.

Milky Way

Milky Way Source: Pixabay

The telescope has observed about one million distant galaxies that were previously unrecorded. 

"ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder) applies the latest tools of science and technology ιν answering  age-old questions about the mysteries of the universe, equipping astronomers around the world with new breakthroughs and tools to solve their challenges," said the head of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation – CSIRO, Larry Marshall.
The telescope mapped the sky with unprecedented speed and detail as its instruments have a particularly wide field of view, allowing it to capture high-definition panoramic photos of the sky.

Furthermore, the quality of the telescope's information receivers enables scientists to form a complete map of the sky, by combining only 903 images.

As a measure of comparison for the telescope's speed, Mr Marshall said the raw data was recorded faster than all of Australia's Internet traffic.

Innovations of this type enable astronomers to analyze galaxy populations using statistical methods the same way social scientists do.

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Published 1 December 2020 3:37pm
Updated 2 December 2020 7:11pm
By Anastasios Zervopoulos


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