Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
An optical telescope employing two 8.4-meter mirrors on a common mount,
with their centers 14.4 meters apart, which is under construction at Mount
Graham International Observatory, Arizona. Scheduled to begin operation
in 2003, the LBT is a joint venture of the Steward Observatory, Arizona,
Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Italy, and Research Corporation, a private
foundation in Tucson. The LBT's twin mirrors, equipped with adaptive
optics technology, will provide a light-gathering capacity equivalent
to that of a single 11.8-m (39-ft.) mirror and a resolving
power equivalent to that of a single 23-m (75.5-ft.) telescope. Among
other things, the LBT will be used with the technique of nulling
interferometry in an effort to image extrasolar
planets of Jupiter size or larger in
orbit around nearby stars.
Related category
• OBSERVATORIES
AND TELESCOPES
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