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 Measuring The Cosmos
    
      
  Why NIST Is Going to Space
          Telescopes in Space
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          Telescope Locations
          CreditsSouth Pole Telescope

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A man in winter gear stands in front of a large dish with a background of snow and blue sky.
NIST’s Hannes Hubmayr at the South Pole TelescopeCredit:
          
  NISTTelescope Details

Website

**Location:**

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica

**Purpose:**

With a 10-meter primary mirror, the South Pole Telescope is the largest millimeter-wave telescope dedicated to observing the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and can produce large-scale CMB maps at unparalleled resolution.

**NIST’s role:**

NIST has played a significant role in all three generations of SPT cameras, providing sensors and/or electronics to collect sensor data for SPT-SZ, SPTpol, and the current camera, SPT-3G.

**Significant discoveries:**

The SPT made the very first detection of the B-mode lensing signal, a pattern that confirms the theory of cosmic inflation, and has discovered thousands of galaxy clusters.

**Other interesting facts:**

With its unique location, the SPT plays a critical role in achieving the goal of the Event Horizon Telescope network to image the event horizon around the black hole at the center of our galaxy.

**Supported by:**

National Science Foundation, DOE Office of Science High Energy Physics, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, U.S. Antarctic Program and Antarctic Support Contract

Media

Circular gold-colored plate has seven smaller circles in the center.
South Pole telescope sensor arrayCredit:
          
  NIST
  Physics

    
    Created October 7, 2021, Updated November 3, 2021
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