Whipple Blipple

Today I journeyed to the top of Mt. Wrightson, 8530 feet above sea level on a visit to the Whipple Observatory.

Instead of building one huge mirror, originally this telescope, known as the MMT, used a series of smaller mirrors to equal the light-collecting power of one enormous mirror. It would be like taking six individual telescopes and combining their light to make one image. The MMT (multiple mirror telescope) would use computers to make sure all the mirrors were always lined up perfectly. It would be the first visible light telescope to use multiple mirrors.  This was built in the mid 1980's.

The telescope later converted to a single mirror.  Installed in the MMT was the first, single, 12.5 foot (6.5-meter) mirror in 1999. (The story of the building and installation of that mirror is fascinating.) The change more than doubled the telescope's light-gathering power and allowed it to see an area of the sky 400 times larger than before.

The mounting wasn't the only moving part. The entire building was designed to rotate to follow the movement of the telescope. The building can rotate 270 degrees, limited only by power lines underneath.

The Whipple Observatory, consisting of the MMT and telescopes on various levels of the mountain, are managed by the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona.

It is one of the largest telescopes in the world, discovering new suns and the planets that revolve around them.

In this photo, you can see the covered mirror and the roller arms that allow the MMT to move up and down.  The rotating building takes care of the panning.  The entire thing you see, floor to ceiling, tilts and points out a huge window which rolls open only when the telescope is in use.  It is located behind and to my right.

For more info go here.  If your interest is really piqued, you can put Whipple Observatory, MMT or multiple mirror telescope in your favorite search engine.