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Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope
Telescope Details
Location
Cerro Chajnantor, Chile
Purpose
Study the dynamic interstellar medium in the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds and other nearby galaxies; collect measurements to place new constraints on dark energy and the sum of the neutrino masses; study distant dusty star-forming galaxies to understand galaxy evolution; and map the distribution of matter in the universe during the time period when the first stars were born.
NIST’s role
Built and delivered a camera for the telescope and a sensor array for related spectrograph instrument. Plans are underway for NIST to build additional cameras.
Significant discoveries
This telescope is still under construction.
Other interesting facts
The telescope site is located at an elevation slightly higher than the basecamp for Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, at 5,600 meters (18,400 feet).
Operated by
A partnership of Cornell University; a German consortium of the University of Cologne, the University of Bonn and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics; and the Canadian Atacama Telescope Consortium
Media
