A seriously big telescope is in the works on a mountain top in Arizona. The Large Binocular Telescope, or LBT, has two 8-meter wide mirrors that work together to form one powerful telescope. Its capabilities are being expanded as a powerful new instrument called LUCIFER will be attached to the LBT ready for scientific observations.
LUCIFER is actually an acronym, although slightly tortured, standing for LBT Near Infrared Spectroscopic Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research. It has spectroscopic capabilities, meaning that it will break down light into its component wavelengths to search for spectral lines emitted or absorbed by various atoms and molecules. It is special in that it will have incredibly fine resolution over large parts of the infrared spectrum
The new instrument also has stellar (tee hee) imaging capabilities, as shown in the lovely photo (above) of a star-forming region in our galaxy. In addition to making images and taking spectra of individual objects, LUCIFER has a mode where you can take spectra of numerous objects at once, such as galaxies or gas clouds. This Swiss army knife-sounding instrument (made by the German LBT consortium, actually), all has to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures so it doesn't emit infrared light itself! It even has a robotic arm inside to change instruments without having to warm it up and get in there with human hands.
Why is it so important to go to the infrared? Star forming regions generally contain a lot of dust leftover from formation or spewed forth from early supernova explosions. As you would expect, this dust obscures much of the visible light, preventing astronomers from revealing their secrets with just optical telescopes. However, infrared light can penetrate the dusty shroud, thus infrared instruments are critical to understanding the physics of star formation.
Since LBT has two mirrors, it will be receiving a second LUCIFER in 2011. And these are just two of a number of instruments that will make the LBT a powerhouse observatory. I'm not an optical or infrared astronomer myself, but I'm excited to see that a number of my colleagues at the University of Virginia are already taking advantage of this exciting observatory!
Thanks to Rachael Beaton for chatting about LUCIFER with me!
Image of star formation in the giant molecular cloud S255 by Arjan Bik.
Tags: Astronomy, Stellar Physics, Telescopes
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