Caption: NGC6152 is a small open cluster of stars, a grouping where the stars all formed at nearly the same time, perhaps a billion years ago. These stars all formed so close together that gravity has kept them together as traveling companions as they have orbited the center of our galaxy since they were born.
Photo by: courtesy Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project
Date: 2005
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Caption: The formation of the Lagoon Nebula is a long-standing mystery of astronomy. Situated about 3,800 light years from Earth, the nebula is a stellar nursery where stars of high mass and luminosity are being born. The hottest and brightest stars in the region influence surrounding gas clouds, making them glow in classic "emission nebula" style. SALT may help astronomers learn how the nebula was formed. Through spectroscopic measurements, scientists expect to learn more about the Lagoon Nebula as they promise a first look at how atoms behave in the clouds and give it its distinct appearance.
Photo by: courtesy Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project
Date: 2005
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Caption: NGC6744 is a galaxy very much like our own Milky Way in appearance. A barred spiral galaxy, NGC6744 lies at a distance from Earth estimated at 30 million light years. The galaxy is 150,000 light years in diameter. Like the Milky Way, it contains an estimated hundred thousand million stars.
Photo by: courtesy Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project
Date: 2005
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Caption: 47 Tucanae is what astronomers refer to as a "globular cluster." Globular clusters are compact regions with anywhere from ten thousand to several million stars. 47 Tucanae is an ancient cluster of several million stars located about 15,000 light years from Earth. The stars in 47 Tucanae are an estimated 10-12 billion years old, placing them among the oldest in our galaxy. Because the stars in clusters like 47 Tucanae are about the same age, they make perfect laboratories for the study of stellar life cycles.
Photo by: courtesy Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project
Date: 2005
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Caption: In UW-Madison's Space Astronomy Laboratory, staff including, left to right, instrument scientist Eric Burgh, assistant instrument innovator Michael Smith and professor Ken Nordsieck, use a hoist to install a rotating camera lens weighing nearly 150 pounds onto a rail on the Prime Focus Imaging Spectrograph. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Astronomy, together with Rutgers University and the South African Astronomical Observatory (SALT), is building an Imaging Spectrograph for the Prime Focus Instrument Package of the SALT telescope.
Photo by: Jeff Miller
Date: October 2004
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Caption: The South African Large Telescope (SALT), nears completion near Sutherland, South Africa. A collaborative project of the UW-Madison astronomy department and an international partnership of observatories and research universities, SALT will be the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. When completed, the geodesic mirror-support truss at center will hold 91 meter-wide mirror segments, creating an 10-meter wide mirror; the first two segments are visible at center. The dome roof rotates for viewing, with an 11-meter hexagonal openable panel.
Photo by: Matthew Bershady/UW-Madison Astronomy Department
Date: May 2003
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Caption: The South African Large Telescope (SALT), nears completion near Sutherland, South Africa. A collaborative project of the UW-Madison astronomy department and an international partnership of observatories and research universities, SALT will be the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. The calibration tower (left) contains an interferometer for alignment of 91 panels of the 10-meter-wide segmented mirror. The dome roof rotates for viewing, and has an 11-meter hexagonal openable panel.
Photo by: courtesy SALT Project Team
Date: 2003
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Caption: The South African Large Telescope (SALT), nears completion near Sutherland, South Africa. A collaborative project of the UW-Madison astronomy department and an international partnership of observatories and research universities, SALT will be the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. The first 7 mirror segments installed into the geodesic mirror truss reflect the upper ring of the telescope building interior. When completed, the truss will hold 91 meter-wide mirror segments, creating an 10-meter wide mirror.
Photo by: Jian Swiegers, SALT Project Team
Date: May 2003
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