Gigantic telescope launches into space - On the trail of the Big Bang!

Gigantic telescope launches into space - On the trail of the Big Bang!

Researchers and engineers on the Lower Rhine have developed an impressive high-tech telescope that is intended to make visible the birth moments of the first galaxies after the Big Bang. After eight years of hard work, the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), set to become the second highest telescope in the world, will soon be transported by ship to Chile. It will be put into operation there in the Atacama Desert, at a breathtaking 5,600 meters altitude. Project engineer Ron Higgins from the University of Cologne emphasizes the exceptional importance of the site, as only a few telescopes in the world are capable of detecting the wavelength ranges necessary for the research, such as submillimeter radiation from dust and molecular clouds surrounding black holes and galactic structures. This was also the explanation of Dominik Riechers, a leading astrophysicist at the University of Cologne who works closely with the project. Find out more about this groundbreaking development here krone.at.

A technically demanding undertaking

The telescope's impressive technical features are also noteworthy: two huge, six-meter mirrors are the heart of the instrument and will make a crucial contribution to peering deep into the universe. The engineers and scientists are pleased that they were now able to intensively test the conditions in Germany before the telescope reaches its final location. The arrival time in Chile is planned for March and the individual parts will then be transported into the interior of the desert via a mountainous unpaved road. Klaus Willmeroth, the project manager, underlines the enormous challenges posed by the extreme conditions at an altitude of 5,600 meters. “The preparations here were essential to ensure that we are ready when the telescope can finally take its images,” says Willmeroth. The first images from the depths of the universe are expected to arrive in late 2025 or early 2026, fueling hopes for groundbreaking insights into the Big Bang, as previously reported by faz.net reported.