Anderson Mesa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lowell Observatory, Anderson Mesa Station | |
|---|---|
| Organization | Lowell Observatory, United States Naval Observatory |
| Location | Flagstaff, Arizona |
| Coordinates | |
| Altitude | 7210 feet (2163 meters) |
| Webpage | [1] |
| Telescopes | |
| Perkins Telescope | 1.8 meter Cassegrain telescope |
| John S. Hall Telescope | 42 inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope |
| Unnamed Telescope | 31" reflecting telescope |
| LONEOS Schmidt Telescope | 25 inch catadioptric |
| Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer | Interferometer |
Lowell Observatory, Anderson Mesa Station (IAU code 688) was established in 1959 as a dark-sky observing site for Lowell Observatory. Anderson Mesa is now home to several large reflecting telescopes that are used for observing programs such as LONEOS. The site is located about 12 miles southeast of Lowell's main campus on Mars Hill in Flagstaff, Arizona.
[edit] Telescopes
- The 72-inch (1.8 m) Perkins Telescope, shared with Boston University and moved to Anderson Mesa in 1961 from Perkins Observatory in Delaware, Ohio (originally a 69-inch mirror, then the largest single piece of glass ever cast, a distinction that may still hold to this day)
- The 42-inch (1.1 m) John Hall Telescope
- A 31-inch (79 cm) telescope, originally used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in a Moon-mapping project, later refurbished for use by undergraduates and the public
- The 24-inch (60 cm) Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) Schmidt telescope, used in the search for asteroids and other near-earth objects
- The Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI), a joint venture of the Lowell Observatory, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
[edit] NPOI
The NPOI is the largest operating optical telescope in the world. It is a Y configuration of three 50 cm optical siderostats. The inner fixed stations are used for astrometry while stations on the outer arms, out to an eventual separation of more than 300 m, are used for imaging stars. The stations are connected by vacuum beam lines. Fast delay lines in the main control building and long delay lines outside are used to adjust the optical phases to allow coherent combinations of up to six siderostats. Used for astrometry and astronomical imaging, the NPOI is a distributed aperture optical telescope. It is operated for astrometry by the USNO. Research into optical imaging and astronomical research is conducted by the NRL.
Funding for the NPOI was initiated by the Oceanographer of the Navy and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1989. Design work began on all phases of the project. After approximately a year and a half, the initial phase of construction was completed in early 1994. This included the concrete piers to hold the siderostats, beam compressors, elevator cans and center feed cans for the imaging and astrometric arrays, the control and lab buildings and the astrometric huts. The East arm feed pipe installation was completed by December 1998.
