What is the Hobby-Eberly telescope used for?
With its 11-meter (433-inch) mirror, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is one of the world’s largest optical telescopes. It was designed specifically for spectroscopy, the decoding of light from stars and galaxies to study their properties.
What kind of telescope is the Hobby-Eberly?
optical telescopes
The Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET) is a 10-meter (30-foot) aperture telescope located at the McDonald Observatory in Davis Mountains, Texas. The Hobby–Eberly Telescope is one of the largest optical telescopes in the world.
When was the Hobby-Eberly telescope built?
1994
Construction on the HET began in 1994, and it made its first observations in 1996. Its design was later used as the basis for the Southern African Large Telescope.
What is the significance of the 2.7 meter Harlan J Smith Telescope?
The 107-inch (2.7-meter) Harlan J. Smith Telescope is the largest “full-purpose” telescope at McDonald Observatory. The 107-inch telescope was designed to accommodate a variety of instruments that study the universe in different ways, and it has a full range of motion to allow it to view any part of the West Texas sky.
When was the oldest of the telescopes built?
1608
The first record of a telescope comes from the Netherlands in 1608. It is in a patent filed by Middelburg spectacle-maker Hans Lippershey with the States General of the Netherlands on 2 October 1608 for his instrument “for seeing things far away as if they were nearby”.
What is the largest telescope in the state of Texas?
The McDonald Observatory and The University of Texas at Austin are involved with building what will be the world’s largest telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope. McDonald Observatory welcomes the public at the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center.
Who built the Hobby-Eberly Telescope?
The design for this innovative, 8-m class telescope was conceived by Lawrence Ramsey and Daniel Weedman, both professors of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State. Ramsey is the project scientist for the telescope, whose construction began in 1994. Quasars are the most luminous class of objects in the universe.
What telescopes are at the McDonald Observatory?
McDonald’s principal research telescopes include:
- The Giant Magellan Telescope.
- The Hobby-Eberly Telescope.
- The Harlan J.
- The Otto Struve Telescope.
- Other Telescopes.
- Public Education and Outreach.
- Land Acknowledgment.
Who is the real inventor of telescope?
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was part of a small group of astronomers who turned telescopes towards the heavens. After hearing about the “Danish perspective glass” in 1609, Galileo constructed his own telescope.
What are Texas observatories?
Here are four observatories in Texas that welcome public visitors to stargaze.
- Thomsen Observatory. 425 Linden St, Keene, Texas.
- Paul and Jane Meyer Observatory. 14801 FM-182, Clifton, Texas.
- Eagle Eye Observatory. 16942 Ranch Road 2341 Burnet, Texas.
- Stephen F. Austin State University Observatory.
What has the Hobby-Eberly Telescope discovered?
The Hobby-Eberly Telescope has discovered a quasar so far away that the light we see from it today began traveling toward Earth when the universe was only one-eighth of its current age.
Where is the Hobby Eberly Telescope in Texas?
The Hobby–Eberly Telescope ( HET) is a 10-meter (30-foot) aperture telescope located at the McDonald Observatory in Davis Mountains, Texas . The Hobby–Eberly Telescope is one of the largest optical telescopes in the world and combines a number of features that differentiate it from most telescope designs,…
How many degrees does the Hobby Eberly Telescope tilt?
Unlike most other telescopes, which tilt up and down in altitude, the HET’s mirror is always tilted at 55 degrees above the horizon. However, the tracker mounted above the telescope moves in six directions, allowing the HET to study 70 percent of the visible sky.
What are the instruments on the Hobby Eberly Telescope?
The wide-field Hobby-Eberly Telescope focuses light into instruments including the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), the second generation Low Resolution Spectrograph (LRS2), the Habitable Zone Planet Finder and the second generation High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS2).