AN EARTH-based telescope that can spot objects nine times smaller than those the Hubble Space Telescope can see has taken its first image. But despite its resolving power, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) cannot fully match the Hubble.
The $120 million LBT on Mount Graham in Arizona gathers light using two 8.4-metre-diameter primary mirrors, and the design incorporates secondary mirrors that can flex to cancel out distortions caused by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere. And although only one of the main mirrors has been finished – the other will be ready next year – the facility is already in demand. “Astronomers are beating on my door,” says John…
