Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)
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CHIME is a radio telescope designed to answer major questions in astrophysics and cosmology.
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The telescope is a partnership between the University of British Columbia, McGill University, the University of Toronto and the Canadian National Research Council’s Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory.
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Working of CHIME Telescope:
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The CHIME telescope functions a bit differently from others used for radio astronomy. Most radio astronomy is done by rotating a large dish to focus light from different parts of the sky.
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On the other hand, the CHIME telescope comprises four massive parabolic radio antennas. It has no moving parts, and it receives radio signals each day from half of the sky as the Earth rotates.
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The telescope has a powerful digital signalling processor that works at about seven terabits per second – equivalent to a few percent of the world’s internet traffic.
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This digital signal processor reconstructs and looks in thousands of directions simultaneously. That’s what helps us to detect Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) a thousand times more often than a traditional telescope.
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Location: The telescope is located at Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia, Canada.