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LBT Publishes "First Light" Image
FarmKing writes "The Large Binocular Telescope has achieved "first light" and published it's first image of NGC891. The image was taken with one of it's two 8.4 Meter (~655 ft^2) mirrors. When fully operational, LBT will be one of the largest optical telescopes in the world."
We mere amateurs usually pick the moon, Jupiter or maybe M31 ... but NGC891?? That's just pompous!
From this page it looks like the two telescopes in combination have a resolution 10x that of Hubble. Hubble's primary mirror is 2.4 m in diameter compared to the LBT's 8.4 m (but atmospheric distortion lowers the resolution of ground-based telescopes). The main advantage to the dual-telescope set-up is not the increased resolution, but the ability to do optical interferometry: cancel out the signal that you don't want, or select for the signal that you do.
The Keck Telescope in Hawaii is also designed to do optical interferometry, though I'm not sure what kind of results they have gotten so far.
Cause we still don't understand how the universe was formed. Astronomy is the pure research that drives the study of physics. We have no hope of developing a unified theory without further astronomical research. Want nuclear fusion? Want new sensors, or new materials? It all comes back to physics. Our fundamental understanding of the rules of the universe is what defines our capabilities. Similarly for particle accelerators and other pure research.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Yes. The second mirror is still being polished and will be installed sometime next year.
By the way, EACH mirror of the LBT is the largest single mirror in the world at 8.4 meter diameter. The Subaru telescope on Moana Kea is 8.2. There are larger telescope mirrors (Keck I and II, HET, and SALT), but they are segmented. Now that Arizona knows how to cast 8.4m mirrors, they are making the first of SEVEN of them for the next-generation Giant Magellen Telescope.
-- John Dierdorf, Austin TX