The Kölner Observatorium für SubMillimeter Astronomie (KOSMA) was a

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

for submillimeter astronomy located at on Gornergrat near Zermatt (

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

). It was operated by I. Physikalisches Institut, University of Cologne, and Radioastronomisches Institut, University of Bonn. The telescope had a primary diameter of , and a secondary diameter of . It was equipped with heterodyne receivers covering 210 to 820 GHz, corresponding to wavelengths between 0.35 and 1.4 mm, for observations of lines from the

interstellar medium In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstella ...

. Because of the good climatic conditions at the altitude of 3135 m (10285 ft), astronomical observatories have been located in both towers of the Kulmhotel at Gornergrat since 1967. In 1985, the KOSMA telescope was installed in the southern tower by the Universität zu Köln and, in the course of 1995, replaced by a new dish and mount. In the northern tower, a 1.5 m infrared telescope was operated until 2005 by an Italian association of universities ( TIRGO). In 2010, the telescope was moved to a site in

Yangbajain Yangbajain (also spelled Yangbajing; ) is a town approximately north-west of Lhasa, halfway to Damxung in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The town lies just south of the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains, in an upland lush green valley surrounde ...

in Damxung County in Tibet at an altitude of 4300m and renamed CCOSMA.

References

Submillimetre telescopes Radio telescopes Science and technology in Switzerland Astronomical observatories in Switzerland {{observatory-stub

See also

References