CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION
where? the telescope is in Mount Fowlkes in the Davis Mountains of West Texas as apart of the McDonald Observatory.
how much is it worth? the hobby-eberly telescope cost $13.5 million dollars (not including tools).
who paid for it? University of Texas in Austin, Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and Georg-August Universitat.
when? it was built between 1994 and 1997. it took three years to build.
who operates it? the Universities' affiliated with it.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
what is the dimensions of the mirror? the mirror is made up of 91 smaller mirrors of the same hexagonal shape. the mirror is 78 square meters.
what are the mirrors made of? the mirror(s) are made of Schott Zerodur, a glass ceramic that's size is not effected by temperature.
weight? dimensions? other details? each of the 91 mirrors measures one meter side to side and weighs 250 pounds, making the primary mirror weigh a total of 22,750 pounds. the total weight of the telescope 80 tons. each segment has a curvature of 26 meter radius of curvature.
OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS
what region of the EM spectrum does it observe? the hobby-eberly telescope was designed for spectroscopy, thus it has 3 spectrographs for low, medium, and high resolution.
what is the wavelength/frequency? 350nm-1800nm (visible).
what is its resolution? the Hobby-Eberly telescope has three main instruments: the Marcario Low-Resolution Spectrograph, the Medium-Resolution Spectrograph, and the High Resolution Spectrograph.
RESEARCH AND PURPOSE
for research done using the telescope or research about the telescope, click here or here.
what kind of objects does the telescope study? the telescope was designed with the purpose of being able to observe stars, spectroscopy, and to gather a very large amount of light.
what sets this telescope apart from other telescopes? the design it fixed at an elevation angle of fifty-five degrees. Its design is revolutionary. It sits at a fixed elevation angle of 55º, and rotates in azimuth to access 81% of the sky visible from McDonald Observatory (discounting the "high airmass" zone right next to the horizon which telescopes normally avoid). The HET was built for approximately 15-20% of the cost of other 9 meter class telescopes.
