The BINGO radio telescope project, led by the University of São Paulo, was featured in the most recent edition of the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
It aims to study the dark side of the universe and is in the process of being built in the hinterland of Paraíba.
The technology has international collaboration and the preparation work has taken 12 years.
“The purpose of the radio telescope is multiple, but in particular to map the dark matter of the universe, which represents up to 96% of all the material content of the universe”, said physicist and professor at USP Elcio Abdalla, to the CNN Radio .
According to him, there is still a technological goal for the “remote sensing” telescope, with new issues within technology, education and science dissemination, in addition to regional development for Paraíba.
Dark side
But what is the dark side of the universe? The issue is complex, according to the scientist.
“It was conjectured 90 years ago that there is more matter in the universe than is visible, such as planets, black holes, but today it is known that this is not the case.”
Elcio stated that, in reality, it is “something dark, as if it were a transparent liquid that attracts, but with which we cannot interact because it does not involve electromagnetism.”
To summarize, “we know nothing about this dark energy, but it causes the universe to expand, it’s unprecedented and unknown in physics, we don’t know any properties of it.”
“The main objective of the BINGO radio telescope is to find properties of this dark sector through giant wave measurements.”
The physicist said that the current phase of the radio telescope will last from 3 to 4 months, with tests of good functioning, so that “in the first quarter of 2023 we will have the first lights of astronomy, which are scientific observations, which will last for a few years”.
*Produced by Camila Olivo
Source: CNN Brasil
