OSU’s New Eye on the Universe Seeing Clearly: Twin Mirrors Bring Universe a Lot Closer
By Kevin Mayhood, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Mar. 8–The Large Binocular Telescope became the world’s most powerful camera this week when astronomers released pictures of a “nearby” galaxy some 102 million light-years from Earth.
Huge dual mirrors on the telescope, located on Mount Graham in southern Arizona, helped an Italian team to focus on the spiral galaxy called NGC 2770.
“The triumph is getting the two sides to point at the same slice of sky and track together,” said Richard Green, director of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory.
“It’s a real milestone for us to have a truly binocular telescope.”
Having two 28-foot mirrors gather light from distant stars provides twice the power to look deep into space, Green explained.
Each mirror has a camera; the second was installed in November. After more than a month of adjustments and tests, the mirrors and cameras worked in unison in January.
The photographs were released this week.
Astronomers associated with the telescope, including a team at Ohio State University, say things are only going to get better.
“Every three to six months, we will be adding new instruments,” said Christopher Kochanek, an astronomy professor at Ohio State.
Planning for a $120 million observatory started in the early 1980s. Construction began in 1996. The first single-mirror image was taken last year.
Milestones will continue to pile up.
“It’s a great day for astronomy in general when you have such a research facility coming online,” said Daniel Fabricant, a physicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Fabricant said the Large Binocular Telescope is paving the way for the next generation of even larger telescopes.
Next year, sophisticated equipment will be installed to eliminate interference from Earth’s atmosphere. A thin secondary mirror, 3 feet across, is backed with 672 magnets that can be controlled to change shape to eliminate image problems caused by atmospheric gases.
The mirror is designed to change as much as 1,000 times per second, Green said.
In 2010, a computer system will enable astronomers to use the two mirrors as one huge mirror, said Bradley M. Peterson, chairman of the OSU astronomy department.
This will make images 10 times sharper than those captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers will be able to see planets circling distant stars, a step beyond the capabilities of current land and space telescopes.
But the “most powerful” label might not last for long.
The W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii has two telescopes that each have mirrors about 33 feet across. And the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, in Chile, has four telescopes that each have 28-foot mirrors.
Neither is fully operational yet.
Even larger telescopes are scheduled to be built. Astronomers say that with the technology to eliminate interference from the atmosphere, they will be able to peer deeper into space.
kmayhood@dispatch.com
Building giant binoculars
The Large Binocular Telescope is a collaboration of the Italian and German astronomical communities, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Ohio State University, Research Corporation in Tucson, Ariz., and the University of Notre Dame.
–1996: Construction began on Mount Graham. The telescope structure was built in Italy while the University of Arizona designed, cast and polished the twin mirrors.
–2002: The telescope was transported to Mount Graham.
–2003: The first mirror arrived.
–2004: The primary mirror was mounted and aligned.
–2005: The second mirror was mounted. Single-eye first light was achieved and the first image produced.
–2007: The second panoramic camera was delivered.
–March 2008: First binocular light was achieved.
Source: Large Binocular Telescope Observatory
—–
To see more of The Columbus Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbusdispatch.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.