Large Binocular Telescope to be Dedicated in October

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<b>Large Binocular Telescope to be Dedicated in October</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />The LBT Corporation announced today that the dedication ceremonies for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) will be held Oct. 15. This scientific achievement will be marked by a formal dedication dinner for partners and their guests. The media is invited to attend tours of the LBT and Arizona astronomy facilities in advance of the dedication. <br /><br />The $120 million LBT is located on Mount Graham near Safford, Ariz. When fully operational in 2005, it will be the most technologically advanced ground-based telescope in the world. The LBT is unlike any other telescope because it utilizes twin 8.4-meter (27.6 foot) "honeycomb" mirrors that sit on a single mount. The mirrors are more rigid and lighter weight than conventional solid-glass mirrors and together will collect more light than any existing single telescope. <br /><br />In another major innovation, the telescope is also equipped with adaptive optics secondary mirrors, which correct in real time the wavefront distortion and, hence, image blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence. <br /><br />This results in much sharper images and allows astronomers to see objects deeper into space. Still sharper images can be obtained by combining the light from the two primary mirrors in the so-called "interferometric imaging" mode, which will yield images of faint celestial objects that are ten times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope. <br /><br />Peter A. Strittmatter, president of the LBT Corp., said, "This is a momentous occasion for everyone involved in this ground-breaking effort to take space exploration to the next level. The LBT will provide us with an unparalleled view of the Universe from the earliest epochs and provide major new capabilities for the study of exo-solar planets and the possibilities of life outside our solar system.
 
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