idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
The Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope will be inaugurated in the Chilean Atacama Desert from 7 to 10 April. With the participation of the University of Cologne, one of the world’s most advanced telescopes is being built, capable of looking back to the very origins of our universe.
After a construction period of around eight years, the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) is ready to observe the sky. The first measurements are due to take place as early as this summer. The telescope was designed and built by the international scientific consortium CCAT Observatory Inc., with the Universities of Cologne and Bonn holding a 25 per cent stake. It was developed by the company Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH in Duisburg, Germany, and will be installed at an altitude of 5,600 metres on Cerro Chajnantor in the Chilean Atacama Desert. Representatives from the participating institutions as well as Fred Young, alumnus of Cornell University and donor and namesake of the telescope, will be present at the event in San Pedro de Atacama.
When and where:
9 April 2026, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
“Inauguration of the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST)”
Location: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Members of the press who are in Chile and wish to attend are asked to get in touch using the contact details below.
The telescope has a mirror diameter of 6 metres and a surface accuracy of 10µm, making it capable of operating at submillimetre to millimetre wavelengths. The novel optical design of the FYST will deliver high-throughput images with a wide field of view, enabling rapid and efficient mapping of the sky. The FYST will provide insights into the birth of the first stars after the Big Bang as well as into the formation of stars and galaxies.
Observations in the submillimetre radiation range are distorted by water vapour in the Earth’s atmosphere and the signal is greatly weakened. A high-altitude, dry location is therefore required. Installing the telescope at an altitude of 5,600 metres is thus ideal. The FYST is situated 700 metres above the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array) radio telescope network, which consists of 66 parabolic antennas and is located on the Chajnantor Plateau.
“We are delighted that our unique telescope is now being inaugurated and that the scientists will soon be able to start their work. We hope it will enable them to make ground-breaking scientific observations that will transform our understanding of star formation,” says Professor Dominik A. Riechers of the University of Cologne’s Institute of Astrophysics.
Partners in the FYST project are Cornell University (USA), a German consortium including the University of Cologne, the University of Bonn and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching as well as a Canadian consortium of several universities.
Press and Communications Team:
Jürgen Rees
+49 221 470 3107
j.rees@verw.uni-koeln.de
Professor Dr Dominik A. Riechers
Institute for Astrophysics
+49 221 470 76027
riechers@ph1.uni-koeln.de
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