Relevance: GS III (Science & Technology – Space) | Source: The Hindu
1. What is the Big News?
Recently, astronomers used the ALMA telescope to capture pictures of the very center of our Milky Way galaxy. It clearly showed a complex web of cosmic gas. This helps scientists understand how galaxies are formed and how they change over time.
2. What is ALMA?
- What is it? ALMA stands for Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Instead of using glass lenses to look at visible light, it is a powerful Radio Telescope that catches invisible radio waves from space.
- Where is it? It is placed high up in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
- Why the Desert? Space signals (radio waves) are easily blocked by water vapour in the air. The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth, giving the telescope a clear, block-free view of the sky.
- How does it work? It is not one single giant dish. It is a team of 66 highly accurate antennas spread over 16 km. They can move closer or farther apart to work together, acting exactly like the zoom lens of a camera.
3. Major Discoveries by ALMA
Since it started working fully in 2013, ALMA has made some amazing discoveries:
- Finding Baby Planets: It took very clear pictures of young stars surrounded by swirling rings of dust and gas. These rings are the exact places where new planets take birth.
- Catching the ‘Einstein Ring’: It captured a rare Einstein Ring. This happens when the heavy gravity of a massive object bends the light coming from a star far behind it. The bent light looks like a glowing, perfect ring from Earth.
UPSC Value Box
| Important Concept | Simple Meaning for Exam |
| Gravitational Lensing | The scientific name for the bending of light by heavy gravity, which creates the ‘Einstein Ring’. |
| Joint Global Project | ALMA is not owned by one country. It was built together by the space agencies of the USA, Japan, and European countries. |
With reference to the ALMA telescope, consider the following statements:
- It is an optical telescope used to capture the visible light emitted by distant stars.
- It is located in the Atacama Desert because the extremely dry air helps in getting clear space signals without water vapour interference.
- It was solely built and is currently managed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Correct Answer: (b)
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