Discovery Channel Telescope, Progress and Status, September 2005

Details Discovery Channel Telescope, Progress and Status, September 2005 Discovery Channel Telescope, Progress and Status, September 2005

Dec 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005dps....37.1829b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #37, #18.29; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p.1564

Physics

Optics

Scientific paper

The Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) is a 4.2-m telescope being built at a new site near Happy Jack, in northern Arizona. The DCT features a large prime focus mosaic CCD camera with a 2-degree-diameter field of view especially designed for surveys of KBOs, Centaurs, NEAs and other moving or time- variable targets. The telescope will have Ritchey-Chretien and Nasmyth configurations for optical/IR imaging and spectroscopy. Formal groundbreaking for the DCT at the Happy Jack site occurred on 12 July 2005. Construction of major facility elements will commence in earnest in September 2005.
An extended site-testing campaign of the astronomical and environmental qualities at the Happy Jack site was conducted from January 2003-October 2004. Differential image motion observations on 117 nights gave median seeing of 0.84 arcsec FWHM, with a first-quartile average of 0.62 arcsec FWHM. The use permit securing long-term access to this site on the Coconino National Forest was issued in November 2004, and site preparation including construction of the access road was completed in June 2005. The ultra-low-expansion (ULE) meniscus primary mirror in fabrication at Corning Glass has been recently slump-formed to the prescribed radius-of-curvature. Goodrich Aerospace, Vertex RSI, M3 Engineering and Technology, and e2v Technologies have completed in-depth conceptual designs of the optics, mount, facility, and mosaic focal plane, respectively, the results of which were subjected to a formal review in July, 2004. The detailed design of the telescope facility was recently completed by Lowell Observatory and M3 in preparation for the initial construction phase in fall 2005.
The Discovery Channel Telescope is a project of the Lowell Observatory with major financial support from Discovery Communications, Inc. (DCI). DCI plans ongoing television programming featuring the construction of the telescope and the research ultimately conducted with the DCT. An additional partner can be accomodated in the project. Interested parties should contact R. L. Millis, Director, at Lowell Observatory.

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