Taiwan contributes to astronomical research

2014-11-10

Taiwan is making a major contribution to the world’s largest astronomical project Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, according to Academia Sinica Nov. 7.

ALMA recently obtained its highest-ever resolution image to date, revealing the surroundings of HL Tau, a million-year-old star 450 light years away from the earth. This development may change the current understanding of how planets are formed.

AS Academician Paul Ho, also the principal investigator on Taiwan’s ALMA team, said the image offers researchers an exciting look at how planets might be forming around the new celestial body.

“Young stars are born in clouds of gas and fine dust,” he said. “Over time, the dust particles stick together and grow into sand, pebbles and large rocks, eventually settling down into a think disk.

“The disk is disrupted by asteroids, comets and planets, leaving rings, gaps and holes in the process.” Ho said the ALMA image provides the clearest evidence to date that this process occurs and at a faster speed than previously thought.

Satoki Matsushita, a project contributor and associate research fellow at AS Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, attributed the latest development to the success of the Submillimeter Array, jointed operated by ASIAA since 2003.

Comprising 66 high-precision dish antennas and a telescope located on the Chajnantor Plateau in northern Chile, ALMA is the biggest and most advanced astronomical telescope in the world. It represents a collaboration of researchers from East Asia, Europe and North America.

Taiwan participated in the project in 2005 through a tie-up with ALMA-Japan, and in 2008 through a partnership with ALMA-North America. The ASIAA acted as the country’s lead participant on both occasions.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=223824&CtNode=413)