LUCIFER Allows Astronomers to Watch Stars Being Born
April 21, 2010 - University of Arizona (UA) News: A new instrument for the world's largest optical telescope, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham, allows astronomers to observe the faintest and most distant objects in the universe.
LBT partners in the U.S, Germany and Italy announced April 21 that the first of two new innovative near-infrared cameras/spectrographs for the LBT is now available to astronomers for scientific observations at the telescope on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona. After more than a decade of design, manufacturing and testing, the new instrument – dubbed LUCIFER 1 – provides a powerful tool to gain spectacular insights into the universe – from the Milky Way to extremely distant galaxies.
LUCIFER, built by a consortium of German institutes, will be followed by an identical twin instrument that will be delivered to the telescope in early 2011. "With the large light-gathering power of the LBT, astronomers are now able to collect the spectral fingerprints of the faintest and most distant objects in the universe," said LBT director Richard Green, a professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. LUCIFER 1 and its twin are mounted at the focus points of the LBT's two giant 8.4-meter (27.6 foot) diameter telescope mirrors. Each instrument is cooled to -213 degrees Celsius in order to observe in the near-infrared wavelength range. Near-infrared observations are essential for understanding the formation of stars and planets in our galaxy as well as revealing the secrets of the most distant and very young galaxies.
LUCIFER's innovative design allows astronomers to observe in unprecedented detail, for example star forming regions, which are commonly hidden by dust clouds. The instrument is remarkably flexible, combining a large field of view with a high resolution. It provides three exchangeable cameras for imaging and spectroscopy in different resolutions according to observational requirements. Astronomers use spectroscopy to analyze incoming light and answer questions such as how stars and galaxies formed and what they are made of. The instruments were built by a consortium of five German institutes led by the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University, together with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, the Astronomical Institute of the Ruhr-University in Bochum, and the University of Applied Sciences in Mannheim.
The LBT is a collaboration among the Italian astronomical community (National Institute of Astrophysics), the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft in Germany (Max-Planck-Institut Astronomie in Heidelberg, Zentrum fur Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Astrophysikalisches Institut in Potsdam, Max-Planck-Institut Extraterrestrische Physik in Munich, and Max-Planck-Institut Radioastronomie in Bonn), and the Ohio State University and Research Corporation (Ohio State University, University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota and University of Virginia).
Lucifer Instrument Helps Astronomers See Through Darkness to Most Distant Observable Objects
By Rebecca Boyle | Popular Science | Aprl 23, 2010
Courtesy of Lucifer: This image depicts a stellar nursery in the Milky Way about 8,000 light years from Earth. Such clouds are typically opaque to visible light, but infrared light can penetrate them. The Lucifer instrument helps telescopes see that light. The E and N signify east and north. Source: Anna Pasquali/via University of Arizona
(Notice that the direction arrows for east and north resemble horns - M. Hoffman).
(Notice that the direction arrows for east and north resemble horns - M. Hoffman).
The instrument is chilled to -213 Celsius, about -351 F, to allow for near-infrared observations. That wavelength is important for understanding star and planet formation, as well as observing very distant and very young galaxies. Lucifer has three interchangeable cameras for imaging and spectroscopy in different resolutions. It has a large field of view and high-res capabilities, which allow a wide range of observations.
Lucifer is part of the Large Binocular Telescope, which happens to be right next to the Vatican Observatory on Mt. Graham in Tucson. That's right, the Vatican has an observatory in Arizona, manned by Jesuit astronomers. Now its next-door neighbor is named for the Devil.
Scientists at five German universities designed the instrument, and they came up with the name, according to Daniel Stolte, a spokesman for the University of Arizona. Stolte -- who is German -- explained that the team was tossing around names, looking for an acronym that would fit all the technical terms.
"In Germany, they wouldn't have the same hesitation that Americans would have, since it's a very secular country," he said. "I may be completely off, but that's just my hunch -- for us Germans, Lucifer just sounds cool. It's more historical than emotional." No matter your religion, the photos are certainly cool.
End quote (emphasis supplied).
***
Posts
12 comments:
Actually, I would have named it "ATHEIST".
Pretty weird decision. A lot of instruments in particle and astro-physics have names with occult significance.
I do have mixed feelings about the name "Lucifer". On one hand, it connotes worship of knowledge or power before God. On the other, it's only used once in the Bible, I don't think it's accurate to equate it with "Satan", "the beast from the abyss" or other more frequently used names for the antichrist / devil.
I think there are probably a lot of self-styled "illumined" intellectuals who are not in any way occultists or magicians (and certainly some who are), but who look at the development of the human mind as the meaning of life. From what I can gather, this was not true of Adam Weishaupt, but probably so of Benjamin Franklin, despite his sexual deviance.
I think there's definitely a historical / mythological connection between the Greek Prometheus stealing God's fire (knowledge) and the biblical or extra-biblical usage of "light" or knowledge as meaning disobedience to God.
Not expressing any personal views, but just wondering if there's a difference between a satanist and a "knowledge worshipper". I'm neither, but am not opposed to the development of knowledge or material progress, if kept in perspective.
In my line of work, I've met some of the world's most famous particle- and astro-physicists, including two Nobel winners, and found them to be extremely kind, normal individuals, if a little intense.
Is "knowledge" inimical to God? What's the real significance of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", etc? Any thoughts, Michael?
To Anonymous 8:41 a.m.
You're asking two questions: 1. the significance of the name Lucifer and 2. the point at which the pursuit of knowledge degrades from the wholesome quest to know God better through His Creation, into the boundary-breaking Promethean/Satanic egoism of playing and usurping God.
1. In Twilight Language the denotation of a word is not necessarily what is being conveyed for purposes of processing, but rather it's the connotation invoked in the Group Mind and the archetypes conjured subconsciously. In that sense Lucifer is wholly ominous and the naming of the telescope attachment after Lucifer is an act of Satanic defiance.
The strict denotation of the word Lucifer is another matter altogether. Isaiah 14:12 is a reference to the King of Babylon in which an analogy is made with a celestial personality ("helal" i.e. "morning star") who has fallen far from a once exalted station. This has been interpreted as a reference to Satan. The word Lucifer became infamous in this context from the rendering of Isaiah 14:12 in the Vulgate Latin version: "Quomodo cecidisti de caelo, Lucifer, qui mane oriebaris?" ("How thou art fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?"). Much has been made of the fact that a bearer of Light is a benevolent not an evil entity, but this assumption overlooks the fact that bright light can be occluding, thereby blinding the percipient. Paul refers to Satan in the latter days as an "angel of light."
2. I have written at length on this issue in my book "Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare" which you are free to consult, or not. Here I will add that while I'm sure that some Nobel prize-winning atom bomb physicists are personally nice guys, the road to hell is paved with the good intentions of nice or banal people. Historically, the devil when taking human form was sometimes portrayed as a gentleman. There is an aspect of that courtly and commanding Satanic persona in the current "Dos Equis" (2X) beer commercials now accompanying the NBA playoff games on television.
In the female this seemingly milder persona manifests as glamor. Satanism = glamor. I am not saying that if your Mom is complimented by your Dad for looking glamorous at the PTA Awards dinner she is a Satanist. However, in precise terms glamor is illusion. A skinny, short gal who wears the right makeup, padding and high heels and appears in public as tall and full-figured has used glamor to put across an illusion. On the scale of enhancing one woman's self image I doubt there is anything wrong with this. But as a technology honed over millennia, and then applied to politics, ideology, philosophy, history, business and religion, glamor is a form of deception which, in its most intense and concentrated distillation, is the basis of much of what constitutes Satanic power.
(2X = twice the X factor or mystery factor. Note that the Lucifer1 telescope attachment has a twin, i.e. a shadow side, which is indicative of the subconscious).
You can say I'm reading too much into all of this. It won't be the first time. Twilight Language is a science that obtains its effectiveness in part from the denial of its existence.
I am a disenchanter not an enchanter. Most people want to be "enchanted" and are irritated at those who spoil the fun by breaking the spell.
Michael Hoffman
And a few hours ago the NASA Science balloon (worth how many millions of US$ ?) crashes. That is what happens when you call a telescope's attachment, Lucifer.
Michael,
Thanks for your thoughtful and thorough reply. Very interesting. I have been meaning to get your "Secret Societies…" book. With two young children, I don't do as much reading as I'd like and confine myself to a bit of web surfing, and listening to interviews and lectures while working.
I'm definitely aware of the overt satanism of scientists like Robert Oppenheimer and Jack Parsons. I think most theoretical and experimental physicists are much more interested in more arcane subjects like figuring out how neutrinos gain and lose mass as they travel. Then again, Einstein was an otherwise decent human being who supported the Manhattan Project and Zionism, much to his discredit.
As the article points out, Mount Graham's huge VATT telescope facility is run by the Vatican. One wonders whether this isn't a thumbing of the nose by secular academics (led by Italians) against the Vatican, who have a big presence in astronomy worldwide. One could also run away with theories about Planet X or whatever they're calling it these days.
I will let a lot of stuff fly by my radar screen, but the comment by Anonymous at 12:07 regarding Einstein ("...Einstein was an otherwise decent human being...") was just a bit too much to bear.
For the record, Herr Einstein was not exactly an "otherwise decent human being." For Albert, it can well be said, that everything was relative including morality.
And what exactly did some of that morality, or lack thereof, consist of for the Judaic mega giant who generations of school children have been brought up to all but worship and adore? Here are just a few of the objective proven items on the rather lurid menu:
1) Fathered a daughter (Lieserl) out of wedlock with Mileva Maric who he then turned around and callously had the mother pack off to an orphanage. Why? So people would not know he fathered an illegitimate child. The child eventually died without Albert ever bothering to so much as see her, although it was certainly within his means to do so.
2) Third of Albert's known children was Eduard. His fate? He was forsaken by his father who had him consigned to a state funded sanatorium where he eventually died. Alas, much to wife Mileva's hardship and grief, Papa Einstein refused to even visit Eduard.
3) According to the divorce records of Einstein's first marriage, Mileva was subjected by him to actual physical violence. Furthermore, it was his openly admitted (according to his own deposition) adultery that led to the divorce. Who was Albert committing adultery with -- and for four and a half years at that? None other than his cousin Elsa Lowenthal who he married only after convincing her to divorce her husband Max. Not surprisingly, this marriage with Elsa was proven not to have been made in heaven as Einstein evolved into an even worse serial adulterer.
4) Einstein's personal physician of long standing, Janos Plesch is on record as having concluded (based on his knowledge of Albert's long time promiscuity and actual autopsy) that Time Magazine's Man of the Century died of syphilis.
5) The facts are well established that Einstein was a notorious serial plagiarist. Even his most famous E=mc(squared) is not really his. There were no less than a dozen scientists who had either developed or employed the formula prior to Einstein. This is of clear public record accessible to anyone who will take the time to look it up, and yet the myth/lie of Einstein being the inventor of M=mc(squared)lives on and on. (Kind of reminds one of another written in stone myth, that of the famous "H=6,000,000 Jewish mostly gas chamber victims.")
Contrary to the dumbed down mass produced public persona of the Judaic "superman," Einstein was basically a dishonest and immoral or amoral atheist -- not exactly what one might call "an otherwise decent human being."
JBP
"I don't always drink beer . . but when I do . . I prefer Dos Equis"
Those are the best commercials for beer ever made. That guy audits the IRS - and they send him a check.
The branding of that beer with the uber Hispanic macho renaissance man is simply a marketing ploy to market the beer to the 25% or so American males left who don't hang with metrosexuals, wear leather pants and eat Tofu. There is a backlash against effeminate men - more guys going custom suited down everywhere. I myself wore a Zegna suit to our school's spring festival and fed the goats suited down like a pro - You can't be decoding occult symbology in everything - all the time,
Stay thirsty my friends . .
The very motto 'stay thirsty' contradicts God. As marketing campaigns are developed with a lot of thought, this was intentional.
John 4:13-14 (KJV)
13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
In addition to what you suppose is marketing directed at non-feminized males: could it be that it's aimed at males who are overcompensating for their lack of manhood by drinking a 'manly beer'? If you buy the ad's message and order dos equis b/c of it, then you're buying into image over substance.
The actor in these Dos Equis beer commercials portraying "The Most Interesting Man in the World" is named "Jonathan Goldsmith". L'chaim.
James,
I stand corrected. Interesting info. I can make a wild guess why everybody knows Einstein and nobody remembers Bernhard Riemann.
To Anon. at 6:53 am:
You must be mid-west american protestant - no one else would quote Scripture against a television beer commercial.
I have been brewing beer since I was 17 - Dos Equis is basically a german dark lager brewed in Mexico. I don't care for it and Jonathan Goldsmith (born Lippe and is actually of Arabic descent as per his wiki page) wont make me order that beer. I just find the commercials entertaining and you can get some good advice, like "Beware the woman who only shows up when you're winning."
NOw I know Christianity is not about things like the 'Christian Side Hug' rap video - and its not about that Pastor who says that the "wine" consumed by Christ and the apostles at the Wedding at Cana was actually like Snapple fruit juice.
Do you go into a Martini lounge and quote Scripture to the bartender? I'm going to go pour myself a stiff drink and put a on a suit and stick a Brioni pocket square on my chest. Then I am going to order an Islay Scotch - neat - And Remeber that "the police often question him - simply because they find him so interesting . . "
yay science! at least its named after something from your mythology, right? you should be happy. and as satan means the morning star and this is for astronomy, i dont think the narrative goes any further than that. besides, when's the last time anyone was stoned for eating shellfish. no one takes this seriously and no one should take this seriously. what is serious is exploring the universe, and for all i care they could have named the telescope "bobo the sky raping clown" or "moon abortion". its a name, nothing more. it cannot conjure evil powers or allow the breaking of the seven seals, any more than the dos equis guy is the antichrist. honestly? commercials now? get a grip. just because everything in your "book" is turning out not to be literally true doesn't mean you have to seek to spoil the planet for the rest of us. the message is what is important, and it is a whole lot more important than this. besides, you don't take it seriously. when was the last time you stoned someone for eating shellfish, which is an abomination akin to homosexuality? and if i get the story about saul on the road to damascus, you know what i'm gonna do? i'm gonna laugh at your extreme misunderstanding of the story. jesus fulfilled the covenant, in his words, meaning that the contract was broken and the rules were off. no more circumcising your children, eat all the shellfish you want, the only thing that mattered was loving god and your neighbor. now just cause most of the world is not blinded by your external, non-human locus of control, doesn't mean we are any more evil than you. i certainly don't murder and rape because the god of the old testament was telling me to practice genocide on the citizens of a land that was not of my ancestors. and i'm lucky to live in a country where we can name our telescopes whatever we want. i'm gonna buy a telescope tonight. name it "kitten decapitation", slather it in goat's blood and go look up at the sky where i won't find your god or your angels sitting on the clouds. good luck in fantasy land.
Post a Comment