Astronomy:Discovery Channel Telescope
The Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) is a 4.3 m (170 in) aperture telescope owned and operated by Lowell Observatory.[1][2] DCT was built at a dark sky site in the Coconino National Forest near Happy Jack, Arizona.[3] Happy Jack is located at an elevation of 2,360 m (7,740 ft) and is approximately 65 km (40 mi) south-south-east of Flagstaff. The project was initially a partnership between Discovery Communications and Lowell Observatory. The research partnerships have been extended to include Boston University, The University of Maryland, The University of Toledo, and Northern Arizona University. The telescope cost $53 million. It significantly augments Lowell Observatory's observational capability and enables pioneering studies in a number of important research areas.
With its 4-meter class primary mirror, the Discovery Channel Telescope is the fifth largest telescope in the continental United States ((As of 2019)). [4]
Final construction of the telescope was completed by February 2012 and first light images were taken in April 2012.[1]
Telescope
The DCT was designed by Alan Dodson. The 6700-pound primary mirror measures 4.3 m (170 in) in diameter yet only about 10 cm (3.9 in) in thickness. This finely figured, thin meniscus mirror, held in shape by a 156-element active optics system, regularly delivers sub-arcsecond seeing. The mirror was ground and polished into its parabolic shape at the Optical Fabrication and Engineering Facility of the College of Optical Sciences of the University of Arizona (in Tucson, Arizona). The telescope is one of the most powerful in the world, thanks to a unique housing that can accommodate up to five instruments at the Ritchey-Chrétien focus. The DCT can switch between any of these instruments in about a minute, making it uniquely suited for time-domain programs as well as opportunity targets such as gamma ray bursts and supernovae.
Construction
Lowell Observatory and Discovery Communications formed a partnership to build the Discovery Channel Telescope in February 2003. A special-use permit for construction and operation of the telescope at the Happy Jack site was received from the United States Forest Service in November 2004 and improvement of an existing road to the site commenced immediately. The primary mirror blank was completed by Corning in late 2005. Construction of the 26-meter-tall (85-foot), 19-meter-diameter (62-foot) telescope enclosure and an auxiliary support building began in mid-September 2005. Final figuring and polishing of the mirror, which weighs about 3,000 kg (6,700 lb), was completed by the University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences. This process took about three years. The mirror was delivered to the site in June 2010, subsequently aluminized, and mounted on the telescope in August 2011. The telescope saw first light in 2012 and it was fully operational that year.[1] The telescopes lens was only expected to be 4.2 m, but it turned out that a 4.3 m (14 ft) lens could be used.[1]
Research
According to Director Jeffrey Hall, the telescope's original intent was for the study of comets, exoplanets, star formation in the Milky Way and other outer solar system projects. [5] Other research includes observing the Kuiper belt, and exploring distant stars and galaxies. The telescope will make space exploration easier, more effective, and efficient for existing programs as well. [6]
Initial Project Leaders include Dr. Jeffrey Hall, Director, Lowell Observatory; Dr. Stephen Levine, Commissioning Scientist; Bill DeGroff, Project Manager; Dr. Edward Dunham, Instrument Manager; and Ralph Nye, Director of Technical Services.
P/2016 BA14 was identified as a comet using observations from the Discovery Channel Telescope.[7] When the comet approached Earth within 2.2 million miles (about 9 lunar distances), the size of the nucleus to be calculated was 250 meters (820 feet) in diameter.[7] The object was discovered by a PanSTARRS telescope, but not identified as a comet at that time.[7]
In 2017, DCT achieved 282 nights out of the year (365 days) of scheduled observations for science.[4]
The Discovery Channel has exclusive rights to discoveries and images for use in its programming and media. [5]
Comparisons
| Telescope | Size | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hobby-Eberly Telescope | 10m |
| 2 | Large Binocular Telescope twin | 8.4m |
| 3 | MMT | 6.5m |
| 4 | Hale | 5.08m |
| 5 | DCT | 4.3m |
See also
- Anderson Mesa Station
- EXPRES
- List of largest optical reflecting telescopes
- List of the largest optical telescopes in the contiguous United States
- Lowell Observatory
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "DCT Science: Status". Lowell Observatory. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120902003450/http://www.lowell.edu/dct.php. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
- ↑ Discovery Channel Telescope web page
- ↑ Robinson, Walt (2005). "Discovery Channel Telescope". Reflector (The Astronomical League) LVII (4): 11.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lowell Observatory enters new age". Astronomy.com. http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/news/2018/10/lowell-observatory.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sky & Telescope (Feb 2012). "Lowell's new discovery machine: the Discovery Channel Telescope will bring the exploration of the universe to the public on a global scale". Sky & Telescope.
- ↑ Space Daily (October 24, 2005). "Lowell Observatory Complete Discovery Channel Telescope Primary Mirror Blank". Space Daily.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Flyby Comet Was WAY Bigger Than Thought". Space.com. https://www.space.com/32398-flyby-comet-was-way-bigger-than-thought.html.
External links
 |
