Turkey is one step closer to uncover blackholes’ secrets

The 4 meter diameter mirror of the Eastern Anatolia Observatory (DAG), which is among Turkey’s 2023 Vision Projects and will have the largest telescope in Europe when completed, was brought to Erzurum by a giant cargo plane taking off from Russia.

The DAG Project, carried out under the Directorate of Atatürk University Astrophysics Research and Application Center (ATASAM), is Turkey’s largest (4 m) telescope, which will make observations in both the visual (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR, <3 micron) regions of astronomy.  The observatory where international projects and joint studies will be carried out in the fields of astrophysics and space sciences continues to be built.

In this context, one of the most important parts of the observatory, which has come to an end, its 4 meters diameter wide mirror, weighing 4.7 tons, reached Erzurum.

The telescope mirror of the Eastern Anatolia Observatory (Doğu Anadolu Gözlemevi – DAG), which was started to be built in 2012 in Erzurum Konaklı Mountain, was brought to Erzurum by Antonov An-124, one of the largest cargo planes in the world, taking off from Moscow. The mirror, which will be taken to Konaklı Mountain with the first lights of tomorrow morning, will have a 6-hour transportation period.

After the move, both insulation and performance tests will be started this winter, and it is aimed that air conditioning – cooling – dust insulation systems installation and construction will continue at full speed.

After the mirror came to Erzurum without any problems, Atatürk University Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı burst into tears. Çomaklı, who had emotional moments, said, “We have put in a lot of effort, it’s hard not to get emotional.”

Noting that the process is continuing successfully, Çomaklı said, “The establishment process of the Eastern Anatolia Observatory (DAG), which is a part of the Turkish National Space Program and is among the 2023 vision projects of our country, the Astrophysics Research and Application Center of our University. (ATASAM) is being successfully executed, despite the geographical and atmospheric working conditions, especially the pandemic conditions. The mirror of our Observatory arrived in our city today, after the DAG telescope weighing 100 tons, which we brought to Erzurum on February 26, following the special permissions taken from Italy and the official procedures at the Customs Directorate. Optical tests of the 4 meter diameter mirror of the DAG Telescope in Russia were carried out in Moscow with the participation of the DAG technical team and they passed the tests successfully. Thanks to the financial support provided by our Rectorate, we rehabilitated the road to our DAG campus in a short period of 3 months and made it ready to transport Turkey’s largest telescope mirror with a diameter of 4 meters, which arrived in Erzurum by plane.”

Source: İHA