McDonald Observatory Eyes Telescope Sites
Posted on: Tuesday, 13 June 2006, 21:00 CDT
ODESSA, Texas - Astronomers at McDonald Observatory are studying two mountaintop locations to determine the best site for a new telescope.
The 1.8-meter stationary telescope, called the Charge-coupled Device Transit Instrument II, will provide a new level of precision for measuring the location and movement of stars, said project manager John McGraw of the University of New Mexico.
"It gives us precision from the ground we've previously only had from space," said McGraw.
He said the telescope could enable astronomers to make maps of the Milky Way galaxy or take a census of stars.
Observatory officials hope to have the telescope up and running within two years.
To make the most of the telescope, known as the CTI-II, scientists at the West Texas observatory are taking measurements at two potential locations to determine which would provide the best image quality.
Testing stations have been set up on Mount Locke, which houses most of the observatory's telescopes, and at Mount Fowlkes, an adjacent peak that houses the Hobby-Eberly telescope - the third-largest telescope in the world and the observatory's centerpiece.
Each test site has a weather station to record wind speed and direction, humidity and atmospheric pressure. The sites also include 40-foot towers to record variations in atmospheric temperature and air turbulence and 10-inch telescopes that measure image disturbances caused by the earth's atmosphere.
"Studies have shown that moving a telescope by as little as the length of a football field can significantly affect its imaging capability," McGraw said.
The new telescope could be used in collaboration with the Hobby-Eberly telescope, said David Lambert, observatory director. For example, if the new telescope detected a supernova, or exploding star, it could feed the star's position to the Hobby-Eberly.
The new telescope, funded by a $2.8 million federal appropriation, is being built at the University of New Mexico. It's a joint project between UNM, the University of Texas and the Air Force Research Laboratory, officials said.
McGraw said the project is part of the Near Earth Space Surveillance Initiative and could give the Air Force better sky surveillance systems.
"Our telescope will see objects every night that are a million times or more farther than the human eye can see, even on a clear West Texas night," McGraw said.
McDonald Observatory is located near Fort Davis, about 175 miles southeast of El Paso.
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On the Net:
McDonald Observatory, http://mcdonaldobservatory.org
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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