THE LARGE MILLIMETER TELESCOPE

   The LMT project is a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) in Mexico to build a 50 m diameter telescope at a high altitude site in Mexico. This will be the largest millimeter wavelength telescope in the world. The LMT will have a surface accuracy of ~70 microns, enabling high efficiency measurements of astronomical sources at wavelengths from 1 to 3 mm. The LMT will make use of recent advances in structural design and active control of surface elements to achieve the required surface and pointing accuracy.
Design of the Large Millimeter Telescope
LMT Site, with Pico De Orizaba in Background

   The collecting area and resolving power of the LMT, combined with receivers and cameras developed at UMass and other collaborating institutions, will provide a large increase in sensitivity and mapping speed over existing telescopes. This capability will be used for studying known objects and for performing systematic sky surveys. The LMT is well suited for studies of the most distant objects, such as primeval galaxies and galaxy clusters, to nearby objects, such as protostars, planets and comets. The LMT will
  • detect protogalaxies - the LMT can probe to greater redshift than current optical surveys.
  • determine the Hubble constant and the peculiar velocity field of the universe from measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (S-Z) effect in clusters of galaxies.
  • study the spiral structure in nearby galaxies and the molecular gas distribution in interacting galaxies.
  • survey molecular clouds within the Galaxy to determine the relationship between cloud properties and star formation activity.
  • detect molecular gas and dust in forming solar systems to constrain the timescale for giant planet building.
  • make direct detections of cometary nuclei and characterize the molecular abundances in cometary comae.

   The LMT will be operated as a bi-national facility, emphasizing student training and the development of new technology as well as basic astronomical research. LMT related research opportunities at the University include pioneering astronomical research, design and implementation of novel telescope control systems, millimeter-wave optics design, and the development of state-of-the-art millimeter wavelength detectors and cameras.

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   In February 1997, the site for the telescope was chosen to be the summit of Cerro La Negra at an elevation of 4600 m (over 15,000 feet), near the city of Puebla in central Mexico. This site has superb transmission at millimeter wavelengths, is readily accessible to astronomers, and is located near the equator (19olatitude) providing good sky coverage. Site development has started, and foundation work for the telescope will begin in late 1999. Construction of the telescope is scheduled for completion in 2001.

   Significant progress has also been made on both of LMTs first-light instruments. The first instrument is a 32-element heterodyne focal-plane array using MMIC amplifiers and a highly flexible digital autocorrelator spectrometer to provide spectroscopic imaging capabilities at 3 mm. The second is a 144-element bolometer camera that will provide continuum imaging at 1 to 2 mm wavelength.

For further details about the LMT, go to the LMT Home Page.

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