A new European-led telescope project, the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST), promises to map parts of the universe that have long remained obscured by cosmic dust. About half of the light from galaxies is blocked by these dense clouds, leaving astronomers with an incomplete picture of how galaxies form and evolve.
The AtLAST project aims to overcome this limitation with a50-meter single-dish submillimeter telescope, capable of wide-area surveys and powered entirely by renewable energy. Researchers hope it will reveal millions of previously hidden galaxies, uncover the cold gas that fuels star formation, and provide a more complete understanding of the universe’s structure.
Mapping The Dusty Cosmos
Submillimeter observations have already transformed astronomy, but current telescopes like ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array)offer only narrow, focused views. Claudia Cicone, an astrophysicist at the University of Oslo and one of the leads on AtLAST, explained:
“Without a submillimeter, we’re getting a very biased picture of what’s out there. We are missing the regions of space that are most obscured by dust.”
As explained byPhys.org, the new telescope will act as a wide-angle camera, surveying areas of the sky much larger than ALMA can cover, providing a census of galaxies and cold gas across the universe.
Many galaxies, including our own Milky Way, contain dense dust clouds that absorb visible light, making it difficult to observe key processes within them. Project scientists estimate that roughly half of the light emitted by galaxies is hidden behind dust, and only submillimeter wavelengths can penetrate these regions effectively.
AtLAST will feature a 50-meter primary dish with a 12-meter secondary mirror. Tony Mroczkowski, an astronomer at the Institute of Space Sciences in Spain, added that:
“ALMA is powerful, but you can’t map the sky with a microscope. In comparison, AtLAST will image an area up to 16 moons in size with every observation, so we can map the hell out of the universe.”
The telescope will be located in the Atacama Desert, over 5 km above sea level, where the thin, dry atmosphere allows the clearest view of the cosmos.
Eco-friendly Design And Worldwide Cooperation
The AtLAST2 project, running until 2028, focuses on refining telescope technologies while ensuring sustainable operations.
“The telescope would be entirely powered by renewable energies, using a novel, tailored hybrid energy regeneration,” Cicone highlighted.
This includes capturing kinetic energy when the telescope slows down, along with solar power and energy storage in batteries and metal hydride. The steel and aluminum used for construction are also planned to be produced with near-zero carbon emissions.
International collaboration is central to AtLAST. Researchers from Europe, Chile, South Africa, Canada, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand, Japan, and the U.S. are participating, bringing expertise in telescope design, prototyping, and operation.
Uncovering Galaxies Lost In Cosmic Dust
The same source added that once operational, AtLAST will enable astronomers to study regions that have been inaccessible until now. Dusty galaxies that currently blur together in observations could be resolved individually, and cold gas and dust fueling star formation will be mapped across the sky.
Mroczkowski noteed that the telescope could detect up to 50 million galaxies in just 1,000 hours of observation. The facility will also allow new studies of molecular clouds, debris disks around young stars, and even components of the sun’s atmosphere, providing insights into how stars and planets form.
Scientists hope to spot molecules that may be building blocks of life and uncover transient events visible only at submillimeter wavelengths. Cicone stated that AtLAST is designed to operate for decades, with upgradeable instrumentation to benefit future generations of astronomers.
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