Discovery Channel Telescope

The Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) is a 4.3-meter^[1] aperture telescope being built by Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona and will be the fifth largest telescope in the continental United States once completed in 2011. The DCT is currently under construction at a dark sky site on the Coconino National Forest near Happy Jack, Arizona.^[2] Happy Jack is located at an elevation of 7,760 feet (2,370 m) and is approximately 45 miles SSE of Flagstaff. The project is a partnership between Discovery Communications and Lowell Observatory. In its initial implementation, the telescope will cost approximately $53 million. The telescope will significantly augment Lowell Observatory’s observational capability and enable pioneering studies in a number of important research areas.

Telescope

The DCT is designed to support a variety of optical configurations. The phase one configuration will be ideal for high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy both at visible and the near-infrared wavelengths. The telescope is designed to allow a very large, 2-degree field of view in its prime focus implementation - a possible future upgrade. Accordingly, the DCT will feature exceptional ability to perform deep imaging surveys of the night sky, while retaining the ability to be switched to the alternate Ritchey-Chrétien mode, allowing it, unlike pure survey telescopes, to be highly effective during the bright phases of the moon.

Construction

Lowell Observatory and Discovery Communications formed a partnership to build the Discovery Channel Telescope in February 2003. A special use permit for construction and operation of the telescope at the Happy Jack site was received from the United States Forest Service in November 2004 and improvement of an existing road to the site commenced immediately. The primary mirror blank was completed by Corning in late 2005. Construction of the 85-foot-tall (26 m), 62-foot-diameter (19 m) telescope enclosure and an auxiliary support building began in mid-September 2005. Final figuring and polishing of the mirror, which weighs about 6,700 pounds (3,000 kg), was completed by the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences. This process took about three years. The mirror was delivered to the site in June 2010, subsequently aluminized, and mounted on the telescope in August 2011. The telescope is scheduled to see first light in 2012, and become fully operational later that year.

Research

The telescope will initially be applied to a wide and evolving range of research topics. Initially these will include a survey of the composition of Kuiper Belt objects orbiting the sun beyond Neptune, studies of the physical properties of comets, investigations of the evolution and structure of small galaxies, plus studies of the masses of stars, to name a few.

Project Leaders include Jeffrey Hall, Director, Lowell Observatory; Bill DeGroff, Project Manager; and Edward Dunham, Instrument Scientist.

Resources

• Discovery Channel Telescope Fact Sheet

References

1. ^ Discovery Channel Telescope Fact Sheet (.pdf)
2. ^ Robinson, Walt (2005). "Discovery Channel Telescope". Reflector (The Astronomical League) LVII (4): 11. 

External links

• Discovery Channel Telescope Home Page
• University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences

Coordinates: 34°44′40″N 111°25′20″W / 34.74442°N 111.42235°W / 34.74442; -111.42235