NRW technology opens a new window to space

A piece of high tech from NRW can look back billions of years: The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), which features technology from the Lower Rhine region, was inaugurated in the Atacama Desert in Chile. CPI Vertex Antennentechnik in Duisburg supplied the telescope structure, and the mechanical engineering firm Wessel in Xanten carried out the steelwork. The two NRW companies tested the 250-ton structure in Xanten.

The telescope was transported in six separate parts from the port in Wesel to Chile by cargo ship. After traveling 11,000 kilometers, the telescope was assembled on the 5,640-meter-high summit of Cerro Chajnantor.

The FYST operates in the submillimeter range of light and is designed to map a large area of the sky. Researchers intend to use the instrument to study star and galaxy formation and the processes that occurred shortly after the Big Bang. Some of the light being measured has traveled for billions of years, providing a glimpse into the early history of the universe. The first measurements are scheduled for this summer.

In addition to U.S. and Canadian institutions, the University of Cologne and the University of Bonn are also participating in the FYST project of the international CCAT Observatory Consortium. This underscores the international significance of science and technology from NRW: “The fact that researchers from the University of Cologne have contributed to the development of such a high-caliber new radio telescope demonstrates that our research in this field is at the cutting edge,” says Professor Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, Rector of the University of Cologne.