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NSC joins international project

The National Science Council announced in a press conference yesterday its collaboration with the US National Science Foundation (NSF) on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) project -- a powerful telescopic ground-based astronomical observatory capable of covering wavelengths of 0.3mm to 9mm, with an angular resolution of up to 4 mill-arcsec.

At this resolution, the extremely sensitive ALMA observatory will offer astronomic images that are 10 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, which means that "for example, instead of seeing Pluto, we can now see volcanoes on moons orbiting around Pluto," said Paul Ho (賀曾樸), distinguished research fellow and director at Academia Sinica's Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The observatory, which is scheduled to be completed by 2012, will consist of two main components: the 12m array, projected to contain fifty 12m telescopes, and an "Atacama Compact Array [ACA]," projected to contain four 12m and 12 7m telescopes.

Like the lenses of a telescope, by closing or expanding the distance between the two components, different resolutions can be achieved, allowing both micro and macro-observations, Ho said.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT

The project is being executed by three teams of scientists. While ALMA-North America, responsible for the 12m array, is mainly supported by the US and Europe, ACA's main player is Japan, Ho said.

Prior to signing the agreement to participate in ALMA-North America, and providing 4 percent (US$20 million over 10 years) of the total budget, Taiwan in 2005 also agreed to join the ACA effort by funding 5 percent (US$16 million) of ACA's total budget, Ho said.

BENEFITS

Both counts of participation will earn Taiwan the right to apply for observatory time using the top-notch facilities, which would help advance the country's astronomical prowess, Ho said.

"ALMA lends insight to quantum mechanics in the universe, making it possible to obsrve spectral lines of molecules," Ho said. "We have seen molecules at different energy levels -- like an onion, each successful imaging of a molecular structure gives us a `layer' of what celestial matter is really like."

NEW DISCOVERIES

As such, ALMA would potentially allow humans to observe the formation of planets and stars, weather patterns on other planets, structures of the galaxy, movements of gas within active galactic nuclei, formation of the earliest galaxies and distant galaxies that were never before observed, Ho said.

"This, in essence, expands our `universe,'" he said.

In addition to "pure scientific advancements," the project also offers spin-offs, including industrial progression, job opportunities and economic gains for Taiwan, Academia Sinica research fellow Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said.

For example, Taiwan's CoTech has won a contract for the construction of subreflectors for the ALMA 12m antennas, which will bring in several million US dollars in revenue, he said.

In addition, the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology's Aeronautical Research Laboratory in Taichung has also established a center for the integration and verification of the front-end systems, he said, adding that the ALMA-Taiwan team has also been exploring possible projects to build back-end electronics.

Whether in science or economics, the ALMA project offers endless implications, Ho said.

"Ninety-six percent of the universe is dark mass -- we don't have promises about what we will discover, but just think about it: We are now capable of seeing things we weren't able to see before, and that is exciting," he said.
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