New Italian Infrared Telescope
Abstract
In 1979 an Italian 1.5-meter infrared telescope was installed at an altitude of 3,100 meters in the Kulm Hotel near the Zermatt resort in Switzerland. The site is easily accessible, and provides room for observation, data and control systems, laboratory space, and basic living requirements for astronomers. The telescope is a Cassegrain system, and the diameters of the secondary mirror (20 cm) and the central hole in the primary (16 cm) prevent infrared emission from the telescope structure from reaching the focus. Optic tests have shown that 96 percent of incoming parallel light to the primary mirror is focused within a circle one arc second across. Two video terminals display data and permit command entry, while the control system allows the telescope to scan a selected region of the sky automatically.
- Publication:
-
Sky and Telescope
- Pub Date:
- July 1981
- Bibcode:
- 1981S&T....62...17C
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Observatories;
- Cassegrain Optics;
- Design Analysis;
- Infrared Telescopes;
- Automatic Control;
- Display Devices;
- Italian Space Program;
- Mirrors;
- Astronomy