Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

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Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory astronomical observatory located 35 mi (56 km) S of Tucson, Ariz., at an altitude of 8,500 ft (2,590 m). It is operated jointly by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Univ. of Arizona. Formerly known as the Mount Hopkins Observatory, it was renamed in 1982 for the American astronomer Fred Lawrence Whipple, who was instrumental in establishing the observatory. Until 1998 the observatory was best known for its principal instrument, the highly unusual Multiple-Mirror Telescope (MMT). This consisted of six identical 72-in. (183-cm) reflecting telescopes mounted in a hexagonal array on a common mounting and feeding their images to a single focus. A 30-in. (76-cm) reflector in the center of the mounting served as a guide telescope. The combined light-gathering power of the MMT was equal to that of a conventional 176-in. (447-cm) reflector. The MMT was replaced in 1999 with a conventional 256-in. (6.5-m) single-mirror telescope. Also at the observatory are a 60-in. (152-cm) and a 394-in. (10-m) dish with 248 small mirrors used for gamma-ray astronomy observations.

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Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | Â© A Dictionary of Astronomy 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory An observatory at an altitude of 2340 m on Mount Hopkins, 56 km south of Tucson, Arizona, owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. It was opened in 1968 as Mount Hopkins Observatory and was renamed in 1982 in honour of F. L.Whipple, a former SAO director. Its main instruments are the 1.5-m Tillinghast reflector, opened in 1970; a 1.2-m reflector, opened in 1990; a 10-m optical gamma-ray reflector opened in 1968; and the 1.3-m Peters Automated Infrared Imaging Telescope (PAIRITELM), originally used for the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS). On the summit of Mount Hopkins is the MMT Observatory, jointly operated by the SAO and the University of Arizona. An array of gamma‐ray telescopes called the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) began operation in 2007. http://linmax.sao.arizona.edu/help/FLWO/whipple.html

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