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"First Light" for the Large Binocular Telescope (Forwarded)



 
 
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Old October 26th 05, 04:09 PM
Andrew Yee
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Default "First Light" for the Large Binocular Telescope (Forwarded)

Press and Public Relations Department
Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science
Munich, Germany

Contact:

Dr Klaus Jäger
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg
Tel.: ++49 6221 528-379

Matt Smith
The Strategic Issues Management Group, Inc.
Tel.: ++1 520 321-1111
Fax: ++1 520 321-1450

October 26th, 2005

News SP / 2005 (54)

"First Light" for the Large Binocular Telescope

The largest and most modern single telescope in the world has provided its
first images of the heavens, and German astronomers made a significant
contribution

The two mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) have produced their
first scientific images of space. The event, known among astronomers as
'first light', is a major milestone in the launch of the largest and most
modern single telescope in the world. The LBT will be able to see more
clearly and more deeply into the universe than any of its predecessors.
Led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, five German institutes
participated, garnering a total of 25 percent of the observation time.
Among them were the Max Planck Institutes for Astronomy in Heidelberg,
Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, and for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, as
well as the Landessternwarte (state observatory), part of the Centre for
Astronomy in Heidelberg.

The Large Binocular Telescope, positioned on the 3190-meter high Mount
Graham in Arizona, is one of the most prominent scientific-technical
projects in modern astronomical research. Its name describes it well: it
has two giant mirrors, each of them with a diameter of 8.4 metres. They
are mounted onto the same surface, and focussed, like field glasses, at
the same time on distant space objects. The surface of the mirrors is
polished with extreme precision, down to one 20 millionth of a millimetre.
If an LBT mirror were enlarged to the size of Lake Constance in the Alps
-- just slightly larger than the area of New York City -- the 'waves' on
the lake would be only one-fifth of a millimetre high. In spite of their
size, each of the two mirrors 'only' weighs 16 tonnes. A classical
telescope, on the other hand, at the dimensions of the LBT, would have
thick mirrors weighing some 100 tonnes. It would be impossible to
construct such a large classical telescope.

By combining the optical paths of the two individual mirrors, the LBT
collects as much light as a telescope whose mirrors have a diameter of
11.8 meters. This is a factor of 24 larger than the 2.4 metre mirrors of
the Hubble Space Telescope. Even more importantly, the LBT has the
resolution of a 22.8 metre telescope, because it uses the most modern
adaptive optics, superimposing pictures with an interferometric procedure.
The astronomers are thus able to compensate for the blurring caused by air
turbulence, and see into the universe much more clearly than Hubble.

Professor Thomas Henning, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute
for Astronomy, and Dr Tom Herbst, a scientist in the German consortium,
both agree that "The LBT will open completely new possibilities in
researching planets outside the solar system and the investigation of the
furthest -- and thus youngest -- galaxies."

Professor Gerd Weigelt, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Radio
Astronomy in Bonn, says that "The first LBT pictures give us an idea of
what kind of fascinating picture quality we can expect." Although in the
beginning, the pictures are 'only' being collected with one of the two
main mirrors, they are already showing an impressive view of the distant
Milky Way. One of them is of an object in the constellation Andromeda
called NGC891, a spiral galaxy 24 million light years away, which, from
the earth's perspective, we can only see from the side. According to
Professor Reinhard Genzel, the Managing Director of the Max Planck
Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, "The object is of
particular interest to astronomers, because it also sends out a lot of
x-rays. This radiation was created by a large number of massive stars
whose lives come to an end with spectacular supernova explosions -- a kind
of cosmic fireworks."

The pictures were created using a high-tech Large Binocular Camera (LBC),
developed by Italian partners in the project. The camera and telescope
work together like a giant digital camera. Thanks to the particularly
large field of view, very efficient observations are possible -- for
example, the creation and development of distant galaxies with weak light.

But the LBC camera is just the first of a whole line of high-tech
instruments with which the LBT will be equipped in the future. "A
telescope without instruments is like an eye without a retina," says
Professor Hans-Walter Rix, Director of the Max Planck Institute for
Astronomy. The scientist, a member of the LBT project for many years, adds
that "a telescope like the LBT only becomes a powerful observatory in
combination with powerful measuring instruments that are equipped with
sensitive detectors."

German partners especially participated in the development and
construction of the instruments, and thus were able to secure for
themselves 25 percent of observation time. Scientists, technicians, and
electricians from the LBT-Beteilungsgesellschaft (LBT participation group)
built the control software LUCIFER 1 and 2, which makes it possible to
gather infrared pictures and spectra of heavenly objects. Dr Immo
Appenzeller of the Landessternwarte Heidelberg calls it "important for
detailed investigations of a great number of galaxies at different stages
of development."

Professors Matthias Steinmetz and Klaus Strassmeier, the Directors of the
Astrophysics Institute in Potsdam, explain that "the PEPSI instrument is a
particularly high resolution version of what is called an Echelle
spectrograph. With it, we can conduct particularly effective
investigations of the structure and dynamics of the surface of stars." At
the Institute, the Acquisition, Guiding, and Wavefront sensing units are
being built, which are responsible for the exact tracking of the
telescope, as well as for mirror adjustments.

The LINC-NIRVANA instrument has also been built to ensure that the LBT and
its instruments stay at full effectiveness. The LINC-NIRVANA, built in
co-operation with Italian partners, is the heart of the LBT. It brings the
light from two main mirrors to a single focal plane and corrects for
picture interference due to the earth's atmosphere. The highest demands
are being placed on the optical, electronic, and mechanical components,
because when being used in the infrared spectrum, parts of the
LINC-NIRVANA must be cooled to minus 196 degrees in order not to be
'blinded' by heat radiation around it. In this field of 'cryotechnology',
scientists and technicians from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
have shown great expertise.

Because of the impressive first pictures, the astronomers now know that
more than 20 years of planning, development, and construction have paid
off, and that the 120 million dollar project is on the way to offering new
insights into the cosmos. This was indeed the goal of the people who
initiated German participation in the project, among them Professor
Günther Hasinger (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics,
formerly of the Astrophysical Institute in Potsdam) and Professor Steven
Beckwith (formerly of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy). But it is
not only the scientists who have participated in the project for such a
long time that will profit from the LBT's observations. Now, students and
future scientists at all the partner institutes will have the chance to
analyse LBT data and initiate new observation projects.

Participation:

LBT is a joint American-German-Italian project. The German participation
of 25 percent is divided among five non-university institutes, brought
together into the LBT-Beteilungsgesellschaft:

* Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg
(in charge of the LBT-Beteilungsgesellschaft and LINC-NIRVANA;
participated in LUCIFER)
* Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching
(in charge of HARDPOINTS to adjust the main mirrors, participated in
LUCIFER)
* Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn
(participated in LINC-NIRVANA)
* Astrophysical Institute, Potsdam
(in charge of PEPSI and AGW)
* Landessternwarte Heidelberg
(in charge of LUCIFER, participated in AGW)

The Italian participation of 25 percent was maintained by the INAF
consortium, to which 13 observatories around the country belong.

The American participation of 50 percent was divided as follows:

University of Arizona 25 percent
Ohio State University 12.5 percent
Research Corporation 12.5 percent
(Universities of Notre Dame, Minnesota, Virginia, and more)

Note for TV journalists:

The first film material with LBT pictures and more will be made available
on October 26, 2005, via satellite.

A video news release of the "first light" images from the Large Binocular
Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham in Arizona will be available via satellite
at two separate times on Wednesday, October 26:

5:00 AM - 5:15 AM (P.S.T) / 8:00 AM - 8:15 AM (E.D.T.) / 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM
(C.E.T.)
and
7:00 AM - 7:15 AM (P.S.T) / 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM (E.D.T.) / 4:00 PM - 4:15
PM (C.E.T.)

The relevant information on the satellite feed is as follows:

Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Time: 5:00 AM - 5:15 AM (P.S.T) / 8:00 AM - 8:15 AM (E.D.T.) / 2:00 PM -
2:15 PM (C.E.T.)
7:00 AM - 7:15 AM (P.S.T) / 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM (E.D.T.) / 4:00 PM - 4:15
PM (C.E.T.)

Location:
C-Band Uplink:
Transponder: IA 6C-11
Uplink Freq: 6145 MHz (H)
Downlink Freq: 3920 MHz (V)

Ku-Band Uplink:
Channel: T12K-13D1 4.5 MHz
Uplink Freq: 14272.000 (H)
Downlink Freq: 11472.000 (H)

To obtain this feed via fiber, contact Vyvx Booking at 800-648-333 and ask
for the "LBT - 1st Light" feed.

Related links:

[1] LBT information site
http://www.mpia.de/Public/menu.php?A...051026_de.html

[2] See the LBT "First Light" image here on 26 October 2005
http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/lbto/FL/main.htm


 




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