Double Vision: New Instrument Casts Its Eyes to the Sky

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Feature: 2010-406 Dec. 6, 2010

Double Vision: New Instrument Casts Its Eyes to the Sky

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-406&cid=release_2010-406

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer has taken its first images of the star
Beta Peg in the constellation Pictor -- an encouraging start for an instrument
designed to probe the cosmic neighborhoods where Earth-like planets could exist.

Eight years in development, the NASA-funded instrument combines beams of light
from twin 8.4-meter (28-foot) mirrors mounted atop the Large Binocular
Telescope on Mount Graham, Ariz. "By combining the light of the telescopes, we're
able to realize its full potential," said Project Manager Tom McMahon of the
University of Arizona, Tucson. "Together, the two mirrors form the largest single-
mount telescope in the world."

"The quality of the first-light images is wonderful," said the principal investigator
for the project, Phil Hinz of the University of Arizona. "The telescope was stable
and the instrument was working properly."

With this high-resolution imaging capability, astronomers hope to probe nearby
solar systems -- specifically, the areas in these systems where Earth-like planets
with liquid water could exist. Though the Large Binocular Telescope
Interferometer won't be able to detect Earth-size planets, it will be able to see dust
disks that are indicative of planet formation, in addition to detecting large, Jupiter-
size planets farther out from the star. These findings will help future, space-based
exoplanet missions know where to search for Earth-like planets in our own galactic
neighborhood.

With its ability to probe this "habitable zone" of other solar systems, the Large
Binocular Telescope Interferometer will also complement the capabilities of other
NASA missions -- the Keck Interferometer, which can find dust very close to stars;
and the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is adept at observing planet-forming dust
that is much more distant.

"This instrument will help complete our picture of what planetary systems look like
and be a pathfinder for finding Earth-like planets that are close by," Hinz said.

With a major upgrade of the Large Binocular Telescope's adaptive optics system
scheduled for next year, the interferometer will undergo testing and
commissioning for the majority of 2011, and during that time, scientific
observations will begin.

"This is the highest-resolution instrument of its kind in the world," McMahon said.
"We won't just be able to image exoplanets, but extragalactic objects, nebulae and
galaxies. It's taken time to make sure it works as envisioned, but now it's time to do
science."

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer is funded by NASA and managed by
Ben Parvin at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., as part of NASA's
Exoplanet Exploration Program. The instrument and product development are
provided by the University of Arizona, Tucson.

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