Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper
{{Short description|Telescope in northern Chile}}
{{Infobox telescope}}
The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) is a custom-built {{convert|0.6|m|in}} telescope operated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison, used to study the Hydrogen-alpha ions of the warm ionized medium. It is a tenant telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile.
History
First interest in the ionised hydrogen of the interstellar medium came when Ron Reynolds pointed a spectrometer through a makeshift observing portal in an office of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Physical Sciences Laboratory during the late 1970s. Reynolds and colleagues, including Matt Haffner, a senior scientist in UW-M's astronomy department, later developed WHAM.[http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/WHAM_Brings_Milky_Ways_Ionized_Hydrogen_into_Focus_999.html WHAM Brings Milky Way's Ionized Hydrogen into Focus], SpaceDaily.com, 2017-04-12
WHAM formally began life at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) in November 1996, using the flat mirrors of a two axis, all-sky siderostat passing light horizontally through a 0.6 m diameter, 8.6 m focal length objective lens into a 2.5 m x 2.5 m x 6 m trailer that contained the spectrometer, that used a low noise, high efficiency CCD camera as a multichannel detector behind a pair of {{convert|15|cm|in}} diameter Fabry-Perot etalons/spectrometers.[http://www.atnf.csiro.au/pasa/15_1/reynolds/paper/node2.html The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper], R.J. Reynolds et al, Australian Astronomical Society, V15 N1, accessed 13 April 2017 The system was automated, so that the entire WHAM facility, including opening and closing at the beginning and end of the observing night, was operated from a campus office at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. It operated there from 1996 to 2008.
In 2009, WHAM was moved from KPNO to CTIO.
WHAM's field of view allows a whole sky survey in about 2 years. WHAM mapped the details of the Reynolds Layer.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.astro.wisc.edu/wham-site/ Official website]
- [http://www.astro.wisc.edu/wham-site/wham-publications WHAM publications]
- [https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0309117 The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper Northern Sky Survey] (2003 report)
- [https://arxiv.org/abs/1008.0612 Early Results from the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper Southern Sky Survey] (2010 report)
- People
- [http://www.astro.wisc.edu/our-people/faculty/haffner Matt Haffner] - Senior Scientist
- [http://www.astro.wisc.edu/our-people/emeriti/reynolds Ron Reynolds] - Emeritus
{{University of Wisconsin–Madison}}
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