 4.1-Meter
observation telescope is designed to take high quality images of
the universe from Earth.
TriPoint Global
Communications’ VertexRSI business is contributing to the successful
rollout of the new Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope
in the mountains of Chile.
The 4.1-Meter aperture telescope,
located on Chile’s Cerro Pachon Mountain, is funded by a partnership
between the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the
country of Brazil, Michigan State University and the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. SOAR is the sixth observatory in
northern Chile an area prized by astronomers because it is far from
man-made light sources, and its mild weather conditions allow
observation approximately 300 nights a year.
The project, which began
construction six years ago, is designed to
produce some of the clearest images of the universe by any
observatory in its class in the world.
SOAR relies on
precision pedestals, positioners and control
components from VertexRSI.
Dr. Sidney Wolff, former director
of NOAO, and President of the SOAR Board of Directors, said, “ SOAR
is a modern 4.1-meter telescope with extremely high payload
capacity. It is a very flexible instrument and will be used for
exploring scientific problems ranging from how stars form today in
the nearby universe to what the first generations of stars formed
billions of years ago were like.”
“Unique among large telescopes,”
Dr. Wolff said, “SOAR can reconfigure its instrumentation and point
in less than five minutes. Therefore, SOAR is especially well suited
for obtaining spectroscopy of hypernovae discovered by the Swift
Gamma Ray Burst satellite. These hypernovae mark the deaths of stars
that were formed only a few hundred million years after the
expansion of the universe began 14 billion years ago. The mount and
control system supplied by VertexRSI are one of the major success
stories of SOAR,” Dr. Wolff said.
VertexRSI provided the pedestal,
drive and control system, Nasmyth instrument rotators, and ancillary
equipment. The equipment was produced at VertexRSI’s Controls and
Structures business unit in Richardson, Texas.
The pedestal supplied by VertexRSI
has a pointing sensitivity of 0.01 arc-second, which is equivalent
to positioning the telescope to within 70mm at a distance of 1500 km
or 3 inches at 1,000 miles.
Ray Heaton, Vice President and
General Manager of VertexRSI’s Programs Division, said, “Optical
telescopes must be very accurate for astronomical observing.
VertexRSI’s pedestals and servo units meet the precise tolerances,
speed, and durability required to support and accurately position
optical telescope mirrors and instruments. Our Controls and
Structures business is a leader in innovative pedestal and control
system design. We are very pleased to contribute to the body of
knowledge obtained by SOAR and other telescopes by delivering the
highest quality positioners, pedestals and control equipment
available today.”
VertexRSI offers a full range of
antenna, amplifier, and frequency conversion products for fixed and
mobile satellite communications ground stations, including system
design, integration, commissioning and installation services. The
company also provides precision antennas, positioning systems, and
control systems for radio telescope, optical telescope, radar, and
other specialized applications.
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