Scientists registered “first light” signals with locally assembled Band-1 receivers at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile on Aug. 14, demonstrating that Taiwan’s antenna technology is on par with that of Europe, the US and Japan, Academia Sinica’s Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics said.
“First light” describes the first signal that passes through the entirety of a radio telescope, from the antenna to a computer screen.
The ALMA is on the Chajnantor plateau in the Atacama Desert, and its 66 radio telescopes allow it to “see” a wide range of light wavelengths, the institute said.
Photo courtesy of Academia Sinica’s Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics and National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Aeronautical Systems Research Division
The array was previously equipped with eight receivers, covering frequencies from 84 gigahertz (GHz) to 950 GHz, it said.
The institute said that the Band-1 receivers are capable of ultrawide frequency reception — 35GHz to 50GHz — and are considered one of the most sensitive antennas in the world.
Ninety-nine percent of the receivers were built and assembled in Taiwan, it added.
In a first test on Aug. 14, astronomers conducted observations of the edge of the moon, followed by a first successful interferometry test using two Band-1 receivers on Aug. 17 and the acquisition of the first radio spectrum on Aug. 27, it said.
The Band-1 receivers are the lowest-frequency receivers used on the telescopes and should be able to better observe red-shifted celestial bodies that are more distant, it said.
Academia Sinica assistant researcher Yen Shih-wei (顏士韋) said the Band-1 receivers would allow scientists to observe regions of star formation, and examine how dust particles as small as 1cm accrete, grow and eventually form planets.
The remainder of the 66 receivers, to be fitted on each radio of the array’s telescopes, along with seven spare units, are expected at the site by the end of next year, the institute said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we