Large Binocular Telescope

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Large Binocular Telescope
View of LBT. Taken in November 2006
Organization:	large consortium
Location:	Mount Graham International Observatory, Arizona, USA
Altitude:	10,000-10,500 ft
Wavelength:	optical, infrared
Built:	First light (single primary mirror) 12 October 2005. Second light (both primary mirrors) September 18, 2006
Telescope style:	binocular
Diameter:	8.4 m per mirror
Angular resolution:	22.8 m
Collecting area:	111 m²
Focal length:	f/1.142
Mounting:	elevation/azimuth
Dome:	roll-off roof parting
Website:	http://www.lbto.org/

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT, originally named the Columbus Project) is located on 10,700-foot Mount Graham in the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona and is a part of the Mount Graham International Observatory. As of November 2006, the telescope is under construction and partly operational. When the LBT is fully operational, it will be the world's highest resolution and most technologically advanced optical telescope, creating images in the near-infrared expected to be nearly 10 times sharper than images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

LBT is a joint project of these members: the Italian astronomical community (represented by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, INAF); the University of Arizona; Arizona State University; Northern Arizona University; the LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft in Germany (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Landessternwarte in Heidelberg, Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich and Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn); Michigan State University; Ohio State University; Research Corporation in Tucson; the University of Notre Dame; the University of Minnesota; and the University of Virginia.

The telescope design has two 8.4-meter mirrors mounted on a common base (hence the name "binocular"). LBT takes advantage of active and adaptive optics, provided by Arcetri Observatory. The collecting area will be equivalent to an 11.8-meter circular aperture, greater than any other single telescope. Also, an interferometric mode will be available, with a maximum baseline of 22.8 meters for aperture synthesis imaging observations and a baseline of 15 meters for nulling interferometry.

The choice of location sparked considerable local controversy, both from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, who claimed the mountain is sacred, and from environmentalists who contended that the observatory would cause the demise of the endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrel. Environmentalists and members of the tribe filed some 40 lawsuits - eight of which ended up before a federal appeals court - but the project ultimately prevailed after an act of Congress.

The telescope and mountain observatory survived two major forest fires in eight years, the most recent in the summer of 2004.

The telescope was dedicated in October 2004 and saw first light [1] with a single primary mirror on October 12, 2005. The second primary mirror was installed in January 2006 and "second light" was seen on September 18, 2006 [2].

The telescope has also made an appearance on an episode of the TV show Really Big Things on the Discovery Channel.