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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

ATLASGAL: Celebrating Holding Up New Images AND "Cool" ACRONYMS

         Researchers associated with ATLASGAL, the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) have just released this image of the Milky Way:




      "The APEX telescope has mapped the full area of the galactic plane visible from the southern hemisphere for the first time at sub-millimeter wavelengths and in finer detail than space-based surveys. The APEX telescope allows the study of the cold universe, a few tens of degrees above absolute zero" according to an article released today.



       "APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment telescope, is located at 5100 meters above sea level on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile's Atacama region. The ATLASGAL survey took advantage of the unique characteristics of the telescope to provide a detailed view of the distribution of cold dense gas along the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. The new image includes most of the regions of star formation in the southern Milky Way."



       "At the heart of APEX are its sensitive instruments. One of these, LABOCA (the LArge BOlometer Camera) was used for the ATLASGAL survey. LABOCA measures incoming radiation by registering the tiny rise in temperature it causes on its detectors and can detect emission from the cold dark dust bands obscuring the stellar light." LABOCA, "the mouth" in Spanish, for measuring tiny rises in temperature? {That works, according to my endodontist ;-).}

      [La Boca is also a colorful neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The universe is a cold, colorful place :-).]



     And Atlas, of course, was charged with holding up the universe (not the earth as often depicted):



       Wonder what ATLASGAL will hold for the universe?

   
STARRILY (Have a go at it ;-),
Steph

P.S. And, speaking of acronyms, also noted today >>> "Acronyms kill, ma'am!"


26 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Do you know what they call the pointer on a sundial in Jamaica?

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    2. I want one of them digital sundials! I also want to pack up and move to the La Boca neighborhood. Who could be depressed living there?

      Re: acronyms within acronyms: APEX is the first "A" in ATLASGAL. When will ATLASGAL turn up as the "A" in some other acronym. How far will this "telescoping," so to speak, of acronyms within acronyms within acronyms within acro... etc. go, anyway?

      LegoBelievesNavyFrogmenSayItIsA"Snafu"WhenTheirValveRegulatorsMalfunction:ScubaNormalAllFouledUp!

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    3. Lego, acronyms within acronyms within. . .wild huh?

      Any guess on STARRILY?! ;-)

      Is there a situation there?

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    4. Steph Tackling A Really, Really Interesting Leap Year?

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  2. A BOlometer is used to measure Southwestern neckwear, right?

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  3. Replies
    1. Toddler-esque! I'd walk out that door, too, after all that hockey stick nonsense.

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    2. I was thinking that, for the sake of the guy with the stick, I hope Atlas is good with Asimov's First Law.

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    3. Agreed. I see Sandia National Labs had a hand in this development but didn't see how they settled on the name "Atlas."

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    4. The Maizie replacements do nothing for me.

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    5. I am getting a bit wigged out about not being able to post for awhile. . .

      OK, over that.

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    6. Better than robots for walking on uneven surfaces: Adelie Penguins.

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  4. Replies
    1. Just keep your digital sundial handy.

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    2. I gno, mon. . .

      Wait, weren't we just here? Hard to tell in Colorado ;-).

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    3. http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-11-12/daylight-saving-donut-arizona-ken-jennings-maphead


      http://blog.bigskycountry.net/index.php/2012/03/14/comment-on-daylight-saving-time-posters-attributing-a-quote-to-an-old-indian/

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    4. Yes, the Ken Jennings article is linked in the one I posted. . .but the second one is new to me. Thanks, Paul.

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  5. New post on "520-Million-Year-Old Fossils in China Have Nerve and Verve" is now up.

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