Telescope In Chile's Mountains Looks For Signals To Explain How The Universe Began
July 17, 20194:32 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
There's a telescope high up in the mountains of Chile that's looking for signals from the earliest moments of the universe. Finding these signals would be key to explaining how the universe began.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
There's a telescope high up in the mountains of Chile that's looking for signals from the earliest moments of the universe. Finding these signals would be key to explaining how the universe began. NPR's Joe Palca has just returned from a visit to the telescope, and he has this report on a remarkable facility in a remarkable location.
JOE PALCA, BYLINE: The telescope is called CLASS. It's located on top of Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. And at 17,000 feet, it's one of the highest telescopes in the world.
Ready?
JULIANA COUTO: I'm ready.
PALCA: OK. Shall we start outside?
COUTO: Yeah, let's go outside.
PALCA: Juliana Couto is the site manager for the telescope. We've emerged from a warm control room into the chilly, thin air outside. It's winter in the Southern Hemisphere, but today is a balmy 40 degrees.
But you don't come up here every day.
COUTO: We come here usually from Monday through Saturday.
PALCA: The Atacama Desert is covered with red soil and rocks stretching far into the distance.
COUTO: We could be on Mars. It's definitely an unique place on Earth (laughter).
More:
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/17/742819020/telescope-in-chiles-mountains-looks-for-signals-to-explain-how-the-universe-bega?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=science
Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor
CLASS Telescope
Mountain - Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert
