HET: The New Largest Optical Telescope
Explanation:
Most of our universe is too dim to see. To
peer into our cosmos' unknown depths, astronomers must deploy
new tools - and the classic new tool is a larger telescope. Pictured
above is the new
Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) which recently declared "first light"
in western Texas. HET currently has the
largest single mirror of any optical telescope --
11 meters in diameter. Telescopes in space, like the
Hubble
Space Telescope,
are much smaller but avoid the
Earth's atmosphere blurring out
fine detail.
HET's
huge size, on the other hand, allows it to see very dim objects
and determine their spectrum.
HET's unusual
design
allows the primary mirror to stay put during an observation!
Only smaller focusing instruments suspending above the primary
move to track an astronomical object.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
