ALSO a good study in headlines. By Lori Stiles, University Communications
University of Arizona, UANews
At more than 20 times larger, the 6.5-meter (21-foot) MMTO telescope "is well-suited to addressing the first LCROSS mission science goal: Confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed region on the moon," MMTO director and project team leader Faith Vilas said.
Vilas and co-investigators Donald McCarthy Jr., of the UA Steward Observatory, MMTO staff astronomer Morag Hastie, and MMTO principal engineer Shawn Callahan will use state-of-the-art instruments to observe the expanding debris plume concurrently at three different wavelengths.
They'll use an infrared camera and an infrared spectrograph in the "ARIES," an instrument that McCarthy developed, to take images and spectra to follow the shape and growth of the developing plume as well as probe for the presence of "phyllosilicates," or clays formed by the interaction of water with rocks.
"If we get the signature for phyllosilicates, then we've got a pretty firm indication that there's been water there," Vilas said.
Vilas and co-investigators Donald McCarthy Jr., of the UA Steward Observatory, MMTO staff astronomer Morag Hastie, and MMTO principal engineer Shawn Callahan will use state-of-the-art instruments to observe the expanding debris plume concurrently at three different wavelengths.
They'll use an infrared camera and an infrared spectrograph in the "ARIES," an instrument that McCarthy developed, to take images and spectra to follow the shape and growth of the developing plume as well as probe for the presence of "phyllosilicates," or clays formed by the interaction of water with rocks.
"If we get the signature for phyllosilicates, then we've got a pretty firm indication that there's been water there," Vilas said.
Read the story HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment