1.
Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope
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Mayall Telescope, also known as the Mayall 4-meter Telescope, is a four-meter reflector telescope located at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and named after Nicholas U. It saw first light on February 27,1973, initial observers included, D. Crawford, Nicholas Mayall, and Arthur Hoag. It was dedicated on June 20,1973 after Mayalls retirement as director, the mirror has an f/2.7 hyperboloidal shape. It is made from a two-foot thick fused quartz disk that is supported in a mirror cell. The prime focus has a field of six times larger than that of the Hale reflector. An identical reflector was built at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The Mayall debuted neatly between the Hale and Shane in the early 1970s, largest telescopes 1973, List of observatories List of largest optical reflecting telescopes Media related to Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Wikimedia Commons The Mayall 4-meter Telescope - official site
2.
Reflecting telescope
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A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the telescope which. Although reflecting telescopes produce other types of aberrations, it is a design that allows for very large diameter objectives. Almost all of the telescopes used in astronomy research are reflectors. Reflecting telescopes come in many variations and may employ extra optical elements to improve image quality or place the image in a mechanically advantageous position. Since reflecting telescopes use mirrors, the design is referred to as a catoptric telescope. The idea that curved mirrors behave like lenses dates back at least to Alhazens 11th century treatise on optics, the potential advantages of using parabolic mirrors, primarily reduction of spherical aberration with no chromatic aberration, led to many proposed designs for reflecting telescopes. The most notable being James Gregory, who published a design for a ‘reflecting’ telescope in 1663. It would be ten years, before the experimental scientist Robert Hooke was able to build this type of telescope, Isaac Newton has been generally credited with building the first reflecting telescope in 1668. It used a spherically ground metal primary mirror and a diagonal mirror in an optical configuration that has come to be known as the Newtonian telescope. A curved primary mirror is the reflector telescopes basic optical element that creates an image at the focal plane, the distance from the mirror to the focal plane is called the focal length. The primary mirror in most modern telescopes is composed of a glass cylinder whose front surface has been ground to a spherical or parabolic shape. A thin layer of aluminum is deposited onto the mirror. Some telescopes use primary mirrors which are made differently, molten glass is rotated to make its surface paraboloidal, and is kept rotating while it cools and solidifies. The resulting mirror shape approximates a desired paraboloid shape that requires grinding and polishing to reach the exact figure needed. Reflecting telescopes, just like any other system, do not produce perfect images. The use of mirrors avoids chromatic aberration but they produce other types of aberrations, to avoid this problem most reflecting telescopes use parabolic shaped mirrors, a shape that can focus all the light to a common focus. Field curvature - The best image plane is in general curved and it is sometimes corrected by a field flattening lens
3.
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
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The LSST was the top-ranked large ground-based project in the 2010 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. The project officially began construction 1 August 2014 when the National Science Foundation authorized the FY2014 portion of its construction budget, the ceremonial laying of the first stone was performed on 14 April 2015. Site construction began on April 14,2015, with engineering first light anticipated in 2019, science first light in 2021, and full operations for a ten-year survey commencing in January 2022. The LSST design is unique among large telescopes in having a wide field of view,3.5 degrees in diameter. For comparison, both the Sun and the Moon, as seen from Earth, are 0.5 degrees across, combined with its large aperture, this will give it a spectacularly large etendue of 319 m2∙degree2. The large hole reduces the primary mirrors light collecting area to 35 square metres, the primary and tertiary mirrors are being constructed as a single piece of glass, the M1M3 monolith. A3. 2-gigapixel prime focus digital camera will take a 15-second exposure every 20 seconds, repointing such a large telescope within 5 seconds requires an exceptionally short and stiff structure. This in turn implies a very small f-number, which requires very precise focusing of the camera, the camera will include three corrector lenses to reduce aberrations, the first lens at 1. 55m diameter will be the largest lens ever built. The filter will be between the second and third lens, with the third lens forming the window in front of the focal plane. The focal plane will be 64 cm in diameter, and will include 189 CCD detectors each of 16 megapixels. Allowing for maintenance, bad weather and other contingencies, the camera is expected to take over 200,000 pictures per year, far more than can be reviewed by humans. Managing and effectively data mining the enormous output of the telescope is expected to be the most technically difficult part of the project, initial computer requirements are estimated at 100 teraflops of computing power and 15 petabytes of storage, rising as the project collects data. Particular scientific goals of the LSST include, Measuring weak gravitational lensing in the sky to detect signatures of dark energy. Mapping small objects in the Solar System, particularly near-Earth asteroids, detecting transient optical events such as novae and supernovae. It is also hoped that the vast volume of data produced will lead to additional serendipitous discoveries, synoptic is derived from the Greek words σύν and ὄψις, and describes observations that give a broad view of a subject at a particular time. Some of the data from the LSST will be available by Google as an up-to-date interactive night-sky map. LSST construction is underway, with the NSF funding authorized as of 1 August 2014, early development was funded by a number of small grants, with major contributions in January 2008 by software billionaires Charles Simonyi and Bill Gates of $20 and $10 million respectively. $7.5 million was included in the U. S. Presidents FY2013 NSF budget request, the Department of Energy is expected to fund construction of the digital camera component by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, as part of its mission to understand dark energy
4.
Warner and Swasey Observatory
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The Warner and Swasey Observatory is the astronomical observatory of Case Western Reserve University. Warner and Ambrose Swasey, who built it at the beginning of the 20th century, it was located on Taylor Road in East Cleveland, Ohio. The observatory, which at that time housed a 9. 5-inch refractor, was donated in 1919 to the Case School of Applied Science, the newer 24-inch Burrell Schmidt telescope was built in 1939. Due to rising pollution in Cleveland, a new station in Geauga Countys Montville Township was established in 1950s. Named after Jason John Nassau, the station housed the Burrell telescope. Instead of Burrell the station was equipped with the 36-inch robotic telescope, in 2008 Nassau Station was sold to the Geauga Park District and subsequently incorporated into its Observatory Park. The observatory currently operates the old 9. 5-inch refractor at the universitys University Circle campus, the old site on Taylor Road was sold in 1983. The observatory was built by Worchester R. Warner and Ambrose Swasey, owners of Warner & Swasey Company and they became trustees of the Case School of Applied Science, and built an observatory in East Cleveland, which they gave to the school in 1919. This original observatory building was located on Taylor Road four miles east of the university campus and housed a 9. 5-inch refractor, the building was designed by the firm of Walker and Weeks. In subsequent years the observatory grew to several more telescopes and instruments, such as the 24-inch Burrell Schmidt telescope, as well as an astronomical library. In the 1950s, it became apparent that the pollution from Cleveland was beginning to make cutting-edge research impossible from the East Cleveland site. A new site was constructed 30 miles to the east in Geauga County, known today as the Nassau Station, in order to compensate for the move, a 36-inch telescope was soon installed at the Taylor Road facility. The telescope was moved from Ohio to Arizona in May 1979, the Taylor Road facility was sold in 1983, was abandoned, and remained neglected until 2005 when it was sold to a couple who planned to convert the building into a residence. The plans stalled when its new owner was convicted of mortgage fraud, the 24-inch Burrell Schmidt Telescope was originally built in 1939 by Warner & Swasey Company of Cleveland, Ohio and was housed at the Taylor Road facility. It is currently housed at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, the telescope recently had its optics upgraded with a very wide field of view CCD array, which is much more sensitive than the photographic plates. It is the instrument used today by the Case astronomers, the Nassau Station, originally constructed in the 1950s, currently houses a 36-inch reflecting telescope. It is named after observatory director Jason John Nassau, who was a prominent astronomer at the time, work was carried out in the 1990s to make the telescope capable of remote viewing, making it one of the first telescopes to be used in this manner
5.
MDM Observatory
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The MDM Observatory is an optical astronomical observatory on Kitt Peak, adjacent to Kitt Peak National Observatory. It is owned and operated by the University of Michigan, Dartmouth College, Ohio State University, Columbia University, the MDM acronym stands for Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT, because the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was part of the operating consortium in the past. It has two reflecting telescopes, the 2.4 m Hiltner Telescope, used for surveys, and the 1.3 m McGraw-Hill Telescope. The mirror of the 2.4 m Hiltner Telescope is aluminum-coated Cer-Vit, the telescope was built in 1986 and the mirrors were re-polished in 1991. It was named after astronomer W. Albert Hiltner, the 1.3 meter, actually 1.27 m clear aperture, telescope is aluminum-coated Cer-Vit, and usable foci include f/7.5 and f/13.5. The telescope was installed at Stinchfield Woods, Michigan in 1969. Asteroid 4432 McGraw-Hill is named in its honor, MDM Observatory Aerial view of observatory Kitt Peak Clear Sky Clock Forecasts of observing conditions
6.
Astronomy
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Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry, in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, galaxies, and comets, while the phenomena include supernovae explosions, gamma ray bursts, more generally, all astronomical phenomena that originate outside Earths atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy. A related but distinct subject, physical cosmology, is concerned with the study of the Universe as a whole, Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history, such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Nubians, Iranians, Chinese, during the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects, theoretical astronomy is oriented toward the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the results and observations being used to confirm theoretical results. Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can play an active role, especially in the discovery. Amateur astronomers have made and contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, Astronomy means law of the stars. Astronomy should not be confused with astrology, the system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Although the two share a common origin, they are now entirely distinct. Generally, either the term astronomy or astrophysics may be used to refer to this subject, however, since most modern astronomical research deals with subjects related to physics, modern astronomy could actually be called astrophysics. Few fields, such as astrometry, are purely astronomy rather than also astrophysics, some titles of the leading scientific journals in this field includeThe Astronomical Journal, The Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy and Astrophysics. In early times, astronomy only comprised the observation and predictions of the motions of objects visible to the naked eye, in some locations, early cultures assembled massive artifacts that possibly had some astronomical purpose. Before tools such as the telescope were invented, early study of the stars was conducted using the naked eye, most of early astronomy actually consisted of mapping the positions of the stars and planets, a science now referred to as astrometry. From these observations, early ideas about the motions of the planets were formed, and the nature of the Sun, Moon, the Earth was believed to be the center of the Universe with the Sun, the Moon and the stars rotating around it. This is known as the model of the Universe, or the Ptolemaic system. The Babylonians discovered that lunar eclipses recurred in a cycle known as a saros
7.
Observatory
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An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed, historically, observatories were as simple as containing an astronomical sextant or Stonehenge. Astronomical observatories are mainly divided into four categories, space based, airborne, ground based, ground-based observatories, located on the surface of Earth, are used to make observations in the radio and visible light portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most optical telescopes are housed within a dome or similar structure, Telescope domes have a slit or other opening in the roof that can be opened during observing, and closed when the telescope is not in use. In most cases, the upper portion of the telescope dome can be rotated to allow the instrument to observe different sections of the night sky. Radio telescopes usually do not have domes, for optical telescopes, most ground-based observatories are located far from major centers of population, to avoid the effects of light pollution. The ideal locations for modern observatories are sites that have dark skies, a percentage of clear nights per year, dry air. At high elevations, the Earths atmosphere is thinner, thereby minimizing the effects of atmospheric turbulence, sites that meet the above criteria for modern observatories include the southwestern United States, Hawaii, Canary Islands, the Andes, and high mountains in Mexico such as Sierra Negra. Major optical observatories include Mauna Kea Observatory and Kitt Peak National Observatory in the USA, Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in Spain, and Paranal Observatory in Chile. Specific research study performed in 2009 shows that the best possible location for ground-based observatory on Earth is Ridge A — a place in the part of Eastern Antarctica. This location provides the least atmospheric disturbances and best visibility, beginning in 1930s, radio telescopes have been built for use in the field of radio astronomy to observe the Universe in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since the mid-20th century, a number of observatories have been constructed at very high altitudes, above 4. The largest and most notable of these is the Mauna Kea Observatory, the Chacaltaya Astrophysical Observatory in Bolivia, at 5,230 m, was the worlds highest permanent astronomical observatory from the time of its construction during the 1940s until 2009. It has now surpassed by the new University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory. As a result, the resolution of space telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope is often much smaller than a ground-based telescope with a similar aperture. However, all these advantages do come with a price, Space telescopes are much more expensive to build than ground-based telescopes. Due to their location, space telescopes are also difficult to maintain. The Hubble Space Telescope was serviced by the Space Shuttle while many other space telescopes cannot be serviced at all, Airborne observatories have the advantage of height over ground installations, putting them above most of the Earths atmosphere
8.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
9.
Sonoran Desert
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It is the hottest desert in Mexico. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers, the western portion of the United States–Mexico border passes through the Sonoran Desert. In phytogeography, the Sonoran Desert is within the Sonoran Floristic Province of the Madrean Region in southwestern North America, the desert contains a variety of unique and endemic plants and animals, such as the saguaro and organ pipe cactus. It is bounded on the west by the Peninsular Ranges, which separate it from the California chaparral and woodlands, to the north in California and northwest Arizona, the Sonoran Desert transitions to the colder-winter, higher-elevation Mojave, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau deserts. To the east and southeast, the transition to the coniferous Arizona Mountains forests and Sierra Madre. To the south the Sonoran–Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forest is the zone from the Sonoran Desert to the tropical dry forests of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The deserts sub-regions include the Colorado Desert of southeastern California, many ecologists now consider Shreves Vizcaíno and Magdalena regions, which lie on the western side of the Baja California Peninsula, to be a separate ecoregion, the Baja California Desert. The Pinacate National Park includes the only active Erg dune region in North America, the nearest city to the Reserva de la Biosfera el Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar is Puerto Peñasco in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The Sonoran Desert area southeast of Tucson and near the Mexican border is vital habitat for the population of jaguars living within the United States. Many plants not only survive, but thrive in the conditions of the Sonoran Desert. Many have evolved to have specialized adaptations to the desert climate, the Sonoran Deserts biseasonal rainfall pattern results in more plant species than any other desert in the world. The Sonoran Desert includes plant genera and species from the family, palm family, cactus family, legume family. The Sonoran is the place in the world where the famous saguaro cactus grows in the wild. Cholla, beavertail, hedgehog, fishhook, prickly pear, nightblooming cereus, creosote bush and bur sage dominate valley floors. Indigo bush and Mormon tea are other shrubs that may be found, wildflowers of the Sonoran Desert include desert sand verbena, desert sunflower, and evening primroses. Ascending from the valley up bajadas, various such as velvet mesquite, palo verde, desert ironwood, desert willow. Shrubs found at higher elevations include whitethorn acacia, fairy duster, in the desert subdivisions found on Baja California, cardon cactus, elephant tree, and boojum tree occur. The California fan palm is found in the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert and it is found at spring-fed oases, such as in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge
10.
Tohono O'odham
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The Tohono O’odham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U. S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora. The federally recognized tribe is known as the Tohono Oodham Nation, the Tohono O’odham have rejected the former name Papago, used by Europeans after being adopted by Spanish conquistadores from hearing other Piman bands call them this. The Pima were competitors and referred to the people as Ba, bawĭkoʼa and that word was pronounced papago by the Spanish and adopted by later English speakers. The Tohono Oodham Nation, or Tohono Oodham Indian Reservation, is a reservation located in southern Arizona, encompassing portions of Pima County, Pinal County. The Tohono O’odham share linguistic and cultural roots with the closely related Akimel Oodham, whose lands lie just south of present-day Phoenix, the Sobaipuri are ancestors to both the Tohono O’odham and the Akimel O’odham, and they resided along the major rivers of southern Arizona. Ancient pictographs adorn a rock wall that juts up out of the desert near the Baboquivari Mountains, debates surround the origins of the O’odham. Claims that the O’odham moved north as recently as 300 years ago compete with claims that the Hohokam, recent research on the Sobaipuri, the now extinct relatives of the Oodham, shows that they were present in sizable numbers in the southern Arizona river valleys in the fifteenth century. In the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library are materials collected by a Franciscan friar who worked among the Tohono Oodham and these include scholarly volumes and monographs. Historically, the Oodham-speaking peoples were at odds with the nomadic Apache from the seventeenth until the beginning of the twentieth centuries. The Oodham were an agricultural people who raised crops. According to their history, the Apache would raid when they ran short on food, conflict with European settlers encroaching on their lands resulted in the Oodham and the Apache finding common interests. The Oodham word for the Apache enemy is ob, the relationship between the Oodham and Apache was especially strained after 92 Oodham joined the Mexicans and Anglo-Americans and killed close to 144 Apaches during the Camp Grant massacre in 1871. All but eight of the dead were women and children,29 children were captured, considerable evidence suggests that the Oodham and Apache were friendly and engaged in exchange of goods and marriage partners before the late seventeenth century. Oodham oral history, however, suggests that intermarriages resulted from raiding between the two tribes and it was typical for women and children to be taken captive in raids, to be used as slaves by the victors. Often women married into the tribe in which they were held captive, both tribes thus incorporated enemies and their children into their cultures. Oodham musical and dance activities lack grand ritual paraphernalia that call for attention, instead, they wear muted white clay. Oodham songs are accompanied by hard wood rasps and drumming on overturned baskets, dancing features skipping and shuffling quietly in bare feet on dry dirt, the dust raised being believed to rise to atmosphere and assist in forming rain clouds. The original Oodham diet consisted of regionally available wild game, insects, through foraging, Oodham ate a variety of regional plants, such as, ironwood seed, honey mesquite, hog potato, and organ-pipe cactus fruit
11.
Nicholas Mayall
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Nicholas Ulrich Mayall was an American observational astronomer. During his time at Lick, Mayall contributed to knowledge of nebulae, supernovae, spiral galaxy internal motions, the redshifts of galaxies, and the origin, age. He played a significant role in the planning and construction of Licks 120-inch reflector, from 1960, Mayall spent 11 years as director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory until his retirement in 1971. Under his leadership KPNO, and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Mayall was responsible for the construction of the 4-meter Kitt Peak reflector, which was named after him. When Mayall died in 1993, his ashes were spread high on an empty ridge of Kitt Peak, Mayalls father, Edwin L. Mayall, Sr. was an engineer for a manufacturing company in Illinois. His mother, Olive Ulrich Mayall, despite never attending college herself, set high standards for Mayall. Sometime between his brothers birth and 1913, the moved to Californias Modesto area, where Mayall entered first grade. Some time before 1917, they moved again, to Stockton where they remained until 1924, during this period, presumably during his high school years, Mayalls parents divorced. During his senior year, in the fall of 1923, Mayall was secretary of the science club. His father permitted him to use his car, a Moline Knight, to transport the club members up the dirt and this was Mayalls first visit to the observatory where he would spend much of his career. After visiting, he read all the books available in the local libraries. Mayall began college in the fall of 1924 at the University of California, Berkeley and he took up residence with his mother in an apartment on Durant Avenue, and worked at the UC Berkeley library to help support them both. Mayall generally did well at university, and was elected to the Sigma Xi. However, at mid-term examinations of his year, he achieved poor grades in mineralogy. Mayalls adviser recommended that he change his major, as he would not be able to graduate as an engineer with such a handicap. Mayalls mother encouraged him to study whatever interested him the most and this did not set him back in his degree requirements because almost all of his first year studies had been in basic physical sciences and mathematics. Eventually Mayall discovered that he greatly enjoyed astronomy, and decided upon a course of graduate level study followed by a career as a research scientist, after graduating in 1928, Mayall decided to remain at Berkeley, as it had the best astronomy graduate program of the day. His thesis topic, suggested by Hubble, was to count the number of galaxies per unit area on the sky as a function of position on direct plates taken with the Crossley reflector at Lick
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