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|
 The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) | |
| Alternative names | Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility |
|---|---|
| Location(s) | Graham County,Arizona |
| Coordinates | 32°42′05″N109°53′31″W / 32.7013°N 109.892°W /32.7013; -109.892 |
| Altitude | 3,178 m (10,427 ft) |
| Diameter | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Secondary diameter | 0.38 m (1 ft 3 in) |
| Focal length | 16.48 m (54 ft 1 in) |
| Website | www |
  Location of Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope | |
 Related media on Commons | |
TheAlice P. Lennon Telescope and itsThomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility, known together as theVatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), is aGregorian telescope observing in theoptical andinfrared situated onMount Graham in southeastArizona, United States. Measuring 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) primary diameter, the telescope achieved itsfirst light in 1993.
VATT is part of theMount Graham International Observatory and is operated by theVatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, in partnership withThe University of Arizona.
| Optical system | Aplanatic Gregorian f/9 |
| Focal length | 16.48 m |
| Primary mirror | f/1.0, diameter 1.83 m |
| Secondary mirror | f/0.9, diameter 0.38 m (focus control: 0.1 micrometre) |
| Field of view | 72 mm (15') |
| Scale | 12.52 "/mm |
| Image quality | 0.1' – 6.8" |
| Mount | Alt-Az + derotator |
The heart of the telescope is an f/1.0 honeycombed-constructionborosilicate primary mirror. The VATT's mirror is unusually "fast" at f/1, which means that its focal distance is equal to its diameter. Because it has such a short focal length, aGregorian design could be employed which uses a concave secondary mirror at a point beyond the primary focus; this allows unusually sharp focusing across the field of view.[1]
The unusual optical design and novel mirror fabrication techniques mean that both the primary and secondary mirrors are among the most exact surfaces ever made for a ground-based telescope. In addition, the skies above Mount Graham are among the most clear, steady, and dark in the continental North America.Seeing of better than one arc-second even withoutadaptive optics can be achieved on a regular basis.
The primary mirror was manufactured at The University of Arizona'sSteward Observatory Mirror Laboratory, which pioneered both the spin-casting and the stressed-lap polishing techniques which are being used for telescope mirrors that include the 6.5-meter-apertureMMT andMagellan telescopes, and the two 8.4-meter mirrors of theLarge Binocular Telescope.
Given its excellent optical qualities, the telescope has been used primarily for imaging andphotometric work, in which it regularly outperforms much larger telescopes located elsewhere. Among the results from this telescope have been the discovery ofMACHOs in theAndromeda Galaxy; the validation of the Stromvil photometric filter system; evidence for how the shape and dimensions of galaxies have changed over the age of the universe; discovery of the first binary "Vesta chip" asteroid; and the characterization and classification by visible colors of some 100trans-Neptunian objects, most of them fainter thanmagnitude 21.
The government of theVatican City supports the Vatican Observatory staff and regular research costs, but the cost to build and maintain the VATT itself has come from private donors: the major donors supporting the construction of the VATT wereFred and Alice P. Lennon and Thomas J. Bannan. Benefactors to theVatican Observatory Foundation continue to support the operating costs of the VATT.
