.
The series Mirando as Estrelas, produced by the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT Brasil) project of the Giant Magellan Telescope, has released the first of two episodes dedicated to the cutting-edge technology of the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (Soar), located in Cerro Pachón, Chile. The video, available on GMT Brasil’s YouTube channel, shows two high-resolution spectrographs produced by the Brazilian community. These are the Soar integral field spectrograph (Sifs) and the Soar echelle spectrograph (Steles).
The episode includes the participation of two researchers, Bruno Vaz Castilho and Luciano Fraga, associated with the National Astrophysics Laboratory (LNA), a research unit linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), and the national secretariat of the Soar project.
Opened in 2006, the Soar has a primary mirror with a diameter of 4.1 meters, a secondary mirror of 0.6 meters, and a dome measuring 20 meters. The telescope is the result of a partnership between the US National Science Foundation’s NoirLab, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Michigan State University (MSU), and, in Brazil, represented by MCTI/LNA, which has 31% of the annual observation time.
The episode is part of the series Mirando as Estrelas, a scientific dissemination initiative based on a partnership between the Brazilian office GMT Brasil, USP’s Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG) and the São Paulo State Research Foundation (Fapesp), produced by TV Univap and supported by the National Astrophysics Laboratory.
The series aims to present the history of astronomical instrumentation in the country and the main national and international projects that currently involve Brazilian scientists, engineers, and technicians in the design and cutting-edge technological development of today’s most important telescopes.
The list of participants includes leading professionals from some of Brazil’s largest research institutions: Claudia Vilega Rodrigues (National Institute for Space Research – INPE); Bruno Vaz Castilho and Luciano Fraga (LNA); and Claudia Mendes de Oliveira, Laerte Sodré Jr., and Rafael Ribeiro (IAG/USP).
Click on the player and check out the episode:
With an investment of 50 million dollars from Fapesp, Brazil’s participation in the GMTO consortium guarantees scientists from the state of São Paulo 4% of the telescope’s annual operating time.
The Brazilian team includes more than 70 professionals from different areas, including professors, consultants, technicians, and scholarship holders. These form the GMT Brazil Office (GMTBrO), which is currently led by USP’s Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG). This team also includes professors and collaborators from USP’s Institute of Physics (IF) and School of Engineering (Poli), the Mauá’s Institute of Technology, the University of Campinas’s (Unicamp) Institute of Physics, the University of Vale do Paraíba (Univap), among others. They are directly involved in designing and producing the astronomical instruments that will be used in the GMT telescope.
More information on the project website at this link. Follow us on social media: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
.
*Text: GMT Brazil Advisory
English version: Nexus Traduções
