Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 William Herschel Opens Up the Invisible Universe
- 3 1800–1950
- 4 Dying Stars Shrouded in Dust and Stars Being Born
- 5 Birth of Submillimetre Astronomy
- 6 The Cosmic Microwave Background, Echo of the Big Bang
- 7 The Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Opening Up of Extragalactic Infrared Astronomy
- 8 The Cosmic Background Explorer and the Ripples, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Dark Energy
- 9 Giant Ground-Based Near-Infrared and Submillimetre Telescopes
- 10 The Infrared Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope
- 11 Our Solar System’s Dusty Debris Disk and the Search for Exoplanets
- 12 The Future
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Credits for Illustrations
- Glossary
- Further Reading
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
9 - Giant Ground-Based Near-Infrared and Submillimetre Telescopes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 William Herschel Opens Up the Invisible Universe
- 3 1800–1950
- 4 Dying Stars Shrouded in Dust and Stars Being Born
- 5 Birth of Submillimetre Astronomy
- 6 The Cosmic Microwave Background, Echo of the Big Bang
- 7 The Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Opening Up of Extragalactic Infrared Astronomy
- 8 The Cosmic Background Explorer and the Ripples, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Dark Energy
- 9 Giant Ground-Based Near-Infrared and Submillimetre Telescopes
- 10 The Infrared Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope
- 11 Our Solar System’s Dusty Debris Disk and the Search for Exoplanets
- 12 The Future
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Credits for Illustrations
- Glossary
- Further Reading
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Summary
The enormous impact of the Caltech Two Micron Survey in 1969 stimulated interest in developing specialized ground-based infrared telescopes. While far-infrared wavelengths are accessible only from space, atmospheric windows can be used in the near-infrared and submillimetre wavelengths from high mountaintop sites. From the late 1970s, large near-infrared and submillimetre telescopes began to be built on high-altitude sites, especially on the 4200-metre dormant volcanic peak of Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
The advent of these new infrared telescopes and the dramatic impact of the new infrared-array detectors in the 1980s generated a profusion of scientific discoveries. These ranged from high-redshift galaxies to studies of luminous dusty galaxies and the effects of gravitational lensing, the black hole in the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, brown dwarf stars, protostars and protoplanetary systems.
LARGE GROUND-BASED NEAR-INFRARED TELESCOPES: UKIRT, IRTF AND CFHT
The first of the large, specialized infrared telescopes was the United Kingdom’s 3.8-metre UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), constructed between 1975 and 1978 on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. UKIRT was designed to be lightweight and cheap. It started work in 1979 and had an immediate impact on near-infrared astronomy. At about the same time, NASA’s 3-metre Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), with Eric Becklin as its first director, and the Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6-metre optical/infrared telescope also began work on Mauna Kea.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Night VisionExploring the Infrared Universe, pp. 119 - 131Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013