Largest virtual telescope operational in Chile

[Judi Lynn]

Largest virtual telescope operational in Chile
By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, February 9, 2012 16:56 EST



SANTIAGO — Astronomers in Chile said this week they had created the world’s largest virtual optical telescope by using a special technique to combine images from the four most powerful devices as if they were a single device.

“This weekend we managed to finish the process (of merging the images) after almost a year,” said Jean-Philippe Berger, a scientist at the European Southern Observatory which operates the Very Large Telescope array (VLT) in Chile’s high northern desert

“For the first time, we made scientific observations through this new instrument, and we can say that it can be used.”

The VLT complex in Paranal includes four large optical telescopes, each of which are about 30 meters (100 feet) high and have mirrors eight meters (25 feet) in diameter.

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/09/largest-virtual-telescope-operational-in-chile/

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