Device could reveal clues to origin of universe (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Device could reveal clues to origin of universe
9:54am Wednesday 10th October 2012 in News
STAR SEARCH: A K-Band Multi Object Spectrometer is inspected at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre
KEY questions about the origins of the universe could be answered using an instrument built in the North-East.
The K-Band Multi Object Spectrometer (Kmos) was partly built at Durham University’s Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CAI) at Netpark, Sedgefield, County Durham.
Having been assembled in Edinburgh, Kmos will be taken to Paranal, Chile, and fitted to a telescope there.
Astronomers will use it to research the beginnings of the universe and the formation of its first stars and galaxies.
CAI director Professor Ray Sharples said: “The instrument will provide a uniquely powerful tool for studying the formation and evolution of galaxies like our own Milky Way, and is eagerly anticipated by observational cosmologists.”
