Scientists say they someday hope to see as far back in time as the Big Bang with new telescoping technology developed in part by Arthur Lichtenberger, a University professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, headquartered in Charlottesville, is one of the organizations participating in the joint development of detectors that are to go into the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope project.
"This is the largest land-based astronomy project," Lichtenberger said. "It is the largest superconducting detector project underway."
According to the ALMA Web site, the telescope will detect and study the earliest and most distant galaxies and will examine the details of star and planet formation. The array will make major contributions to virtually all fields of astronomical research.
"As the universe is expanded, it moves so far it goes to radio waves," ALMA Project Scientist Al Wootten said. "What we see is objects that are very far away. Those that are the farthest away and closest to the time of the Big Bang are what we are trying to reach. For ALMA, the peak of brightness is red-shifted to optimal place so we can see way back in time."
The telescope will be the world's largest sensitive radio telescope that operates at millimeter wavelength. The 128 telescope detectors will have the capability of looking at objects in space as a unit, greatly increasing mapping capabilities and resolutions.
Scientists from around the world hope to complete and have the telescope in operation by 2007. There currently are 15 countries involved in the project.
Lichtenberger has been developing detectors for this specific project for four years, but he said advances that have been made in the past 50 years have had a huge impact on the project. The development of faster and more sensitive detectors has been phenomenal, Lichtenberger said.
Wootten credited Lichtenberger's dedication and skill.
"Lichtenberger has been more successful in the production of detectors than most people," Wootten said.
Though others say Lichtenberger is a driving force behind the production of the detectors, Lichtenberger praised Anthony Kerr and S-K Pan, two scientists in the research development laboratory, as also fundamental in developing the project.
"We have been collaborating on scientific projects since 1985, and Anothony Kerr and S-K Pan have made incredible advances in the field," Lichtenberger said.
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