Lowell Lens Nearly Done
March 7, 2010
UA optical scientists and engineers prepare for extensive survey of Kuiper Belt objects.
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The mirror is part of the Discovery Channel Telescope at Lowell Observatory. (Photo: Jill Torrance)
The University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences is putting the final touches on an ultra-thin mirror that will be a crucial part of a new telescope funded by Discovery Communications and the Lowell Observatory.
The $44 million Discovery Channel Telescope, to be housed about 40 miles southeast of Flagstaff at Happy Jack, has been in the works since 2003. The telescope will be the fifth-largest in the continental United States when it's completed next year.
Since Lowell is the place where Pluto was discovered, it's quite appropriate for us to be continuing a tradition of outer-solar research like this."