The Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST) is a 15-metre diameter

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...

. It is located at the

La Silla Observatory La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observato ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

La Silla Observatory, Chile

The telescope was built in 1987 as a combined project between

ESO The European Southern Observatory is an astronomical research organisation. ESO may also refer to: *Employee stock option (also: executive stock option) *'' Ether Saga Odyssey'', a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game *''The Elde ...

and Onsala Space Observatory, with contributions from Finland and Australia. It was then the only large telescope for

submillimetre astronomy Submillimetre astronomy or submillimeter astronomy (see spelling differences) is the branch of observational astronomy that is conducted at submillimetre wavelengths (i.e., terahertz radiation) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Astronomers plac ...

in the southern hemisphere. It was decommissioned in 2003. The telescope was used for single-dish observations of a wide range of

astronomical object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are of ...

s, especially the

Galactic Center The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy. Its central massive object is a supermassive black hole of about 4 million solar masses, which is called Sagittarius A*, a ...

and the

Magellanic Clouds The Magellanic Clouds (''Magellanic system'' or ''Nubeculae Magellani'') are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both ...

and for

interferometric Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

observations at millimetre wavelengths. In 1995 observations made with SEST showed that the

Boomerang Nebula The Boomerang Nebula ( canonical name ) is a pulsar-wind bipolar reflection nebula located approximately 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus Centaurus () is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the 88 ...

is the coldest known location in the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

, with a temperature lower than the background radiation.

Gallery

File:Hunting stars.jpg, SEST and Orion with his famous belt and

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

. File:La Silla Dawn Kisses the Milky Way.jpg, SEST dish measures 15 metres across. It was decommissioned in 2003. File:Dizzying Star Trails over SEST.jpg, Sky filled with star trails, a result of the camera's long exposure time. File:Observatoire de la Silla - Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope.JPG, SEST with the

ESO 3.6 m Telescope image:ESO3 6 Telescope.jpg, ESO 3.6 m Telescope The ESO 3.6 m Telescope is an optical reflecting telescope run by the European Southern Observatory at La Silla Observatory, Chile since 1977, with a clear aperture of about and area. The telesco ...

in the background

References

{{Reflist, refs= European Southern Observatory Radio telescopes Submillimetre telescopes 1987 establishments in Chile Buildings and structures in Hardap Region Astronomical observatories in Namibia

La Silla Observatory, Chile

Gallery

See also

References