Public Affairs Office
Air Force Research Laboratory
November 19, 1997
DOD'S LARGEST TELESCOPE GETS "FIRST LIGHT"
MAUI, HAWAII -- The Ring Nebula (M57), approximately one-half eight-year in
diameter (or 2.95 trillion miles wide) and 1,500 light years away, is the
first image captured by the Department of Defense's largest telescope, a
4-meter-class telescope completed here in July. This first image, also known
as "first light", was recorded recently with a 15-second exposure, using an
ST-8 Charge Couple Device camera from Santa Barbara (Calif.) Instrument
Group. Telescope officials with the Directed Energy Directorate of the Air
Force Research Laboratory expect image quality will improve after the
primary mirror figure control is calibrated, enhanced sensors are installed,
and the telescope completes additional testing. The telescope, which is part
of a $150 million Advanced Electro-Optical System, took two years to
construct. Able to view a baseball-sized object 500 miles in space, the
telescope will view and track satellites passing overhead.
Image, 376K
Additional Technical Information: The ST-8 camera was mounted on the
trunnion position of the 3.67-meter telescope (primary/secondary/tertiary
mirror path), with the f/200-long secon dary. The nebula was acquired and
sidereal tracked at a telescope elevation of about 30 degrees. Field of view
was 2.8 X 4.0 arc minutes. The two stars inside the nebula appear to be
magnitude 15 and 16; some of the fainter stars appear to be magnitude 18+.
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