Multiple / Magnum Mirror Telescope
Coordinates: 31 ° 41 ′ 19.6 ″ N , 110 ° 53 ′ 4.4 ″ W.
The Multiple Mirror Telescope or Magnum Mirror Telescope ( MMT ) is a mirror telescope with a diameter of 6.5 m. It is located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory , at an altitude of 2606 m on Mount Hopkins (Arizona) , USA. The observatory is operated by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution .
The MMT implemented new concepts in the construction of large telescopes. With the BTA-6 at the Selentschuk Observatory , it was one of the first large telescopes with azimuthal mounts that are now standard for large telescopes. From the outside, instead of a classic dome, it shows a building that was untypical at the time, in which the walls and roof can be pushed away. As a result, the telescope quickly adapts to the ambient temperature and can deliver images undisturbed by thermal turbulence.
From 1979 to 1998, the main mirror consisted of 6 individual mirror elements with a diameter of 1.8 m each, which gave the telescope its first name. The six mirrors were originally intended for military satellites, when they were not needed they could be used for astronomical research. After 1998 the MMT was equipped with a main mirror made of one piece, to which its current name refers, and was put back into operation in 2000.
At the end of 2002 a new deformable secondary mirror was added to the telescope, which realizes an adaptive optics . This compensates for atmospheric disturbances during observation. In contrast to other adaptive optics, which are implemented separately, the number of optical elements in the beam path is minimized, which leads to excellent image results when observing in the infrared .