Larger millimiter telescopes in the world

Larger millimiter telescopes in the world

1. The alfonos Serrano Large millimiter telescope

   • Is the world´s largest single-dish steerable millimetre-wavelength telescope designed specifically for astronomical observations in the wavelength range of 0.85 – 4mm. This binational project between México and the United States of America represents the largest and most complex scientific instrument constructed in México. Situated on the summit of Volcán Sierra Negra at an altitude of 4600 meters, the LMT has begun its exploration of the physical processes that lead to the formation and evolution of planetary systems, stars, black-holes and galaxies thoughout the 13.7 billion year history of the Universe. Is located in Parque Nacional Pico de Orizaba, Volcán Sierra Negra, Puebla

2. Giant Magellan Telescope

   • The Giant Magellan Telescope will be one member of the next generation of giant ground-based telescopes that promises to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe. It will be constructed in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Commissioning of the telescope is scheduled to begin in 2029. The GMT has a unique design that offers several advantages. It is a segmented mirror telescope that employs seven of today’s largest stiff monolith mirrors as segments. Six off-axis 8.4 meter or 27-foot segments surround a central on-axis segment, forming a single optical surface 24.5 meters, or 80 feet, in diameter with a total collecting area of 368 square meters. The GMT will have a resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope. The GMT project is the work of a distinguished international consortium of leading universities and science institutions.

3. Atacama Large millimiter Array

   • High on the Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), together with its international partners, is operating the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) — a state-of-the-art telescope to study light from some of the coldest objects in the Universe. This light has wavelengths of around a millimetre, between infrared light and radio waves, and is therefore known as millimetre and submillimetre radiation. ALMA comprises 66 high-precision antennas, spread over distances of up to 16 kilometres. This global collaboration is the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence.

4. Arecibo Observatory

   • Also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and formerly known as the Arecibo Ionosphere Observatory, is an observatory in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The observatory's main instrument was the Arecibo Telescope, a 305 m (1,000 ft) spherical reflector dish built into a natural sinkhole, with a cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals mounted 150 m (492 ft) above the dish. Completed in 1963, it was the world's largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China.

5. Gran Telescopio Canarias

   • La Palma Island is currently in the world's largest optical-infrared telescope and one of the most advanced. Its primary mirror is made up of 36 hexagonal segments measuring 1.90 m between vertices, 8 cm thick, and 470 kg, which continuously act as a single mirror. The collecting surface of the GTC is equivalent to that of a telescope with a mirror with a diameter of 10.4 m. The focal length is 169.9 m and therefore the maximum field of view is 20 arc minutes in diameter (less than the size of the full Moon).

6. Keck I and II telescopes

   • The twin telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory are the largest optical and infrared telescopes in the world, according to the observatory's website. Because of the size and location of the telescopes, they are in high demand among professional astronomers. (The observatory is not open to the public.) Keck has participated in several notable discoveries. Both telescopes, named Keck I and Keck II, measure 10 meters (32.8 feet) across. The mirrors for each telescope are made of 36 lightweight segments that work together similarly to a single mirror. The telescopes are housed in insulated domes of 700,000 cubic feet.are located near the sum- mit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii, in the state of Hawaii. Keck I was fully scheduled for astronomy in early 1994, and Keck II in October 1996.

7. South African Large Telescope

   • The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere and among the largest in the world. It has a hexagonal primary mirror array 11 metres across, comprising 91 individual 1m hexagonal mirrors. SALT is situated at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) field station near the small town of Sutherland, in the Northern Cape province, about 400 km from Cape Town. SALT is funded by a consortium of international partners from South Africa, the United States, Germany, Poland, India, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The telescope has been in full science operation since 2011 and is realising its huge potential as Africa’s Giant Eye on the Universe.

8. Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

   • The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be one of the next class of super giant earth-based telescopes. It will be located at Cerro Pachón in Chile. The LSST project is the work of an international consortium of universities and science institutions - including the University of Arizona. Up to date news on the status of the LSST is provided here.

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