Close-up of the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. It consists of six separ- ate mirrors, each metres (72 inches) in diame

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Close-up of the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. It consists of six separ- ate mirrors, each metres (72 inches) in diameter. Working together, they effectively form a single mirror m (178 inches) in diameter, making the MMT one of the world's largest telescopes. Since starting operation in 1979, the MMT has proven the feasibility of using a number of smaller mirrors to provide an equivalent light- gathering surface to a single giant mirror. The technique is important because it is not technic- ally possible to make single telescope mirrors much larger than 8 m in diameter.

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Photo credit: © DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, astrophysics, mirror, mmt, mulitple, optical, telescope