Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005

Scientists, technicians, and electronic engineers of
the German LBTB consortium are building the instrument
clusters lucifer 1 and 2 (PI Institute is the LSW,
see Section IV.5), which will deliver both images and
spectra of celestial objects in the near-infrared range.
These instruments are ideal for studying very distant
and thus very faint galaxies. PePsi, on the other hand,
is a high-resolution echelle spectrograph that is excellently
suited for studying the structure and dynamics of
stellar surfaces, for example. The AIP is the PI Institute
for PePsi, as well as for the AGW unit (AGW stands for
Acquisition, Guiding, and Wavefront Sensing), built within
the LBTB, too. The components of this unit ensure
the exact guiding of the telescope as well as the adaptive
correction of the mirrors.
In order to lastly provide the full power of the LBT
and its instruments, linc-nirvana is being built (see
Section IV.4). This instrument, developed in collaboration
with our Italian partners, represents the very heart of
the LBT. It combines the light beams from both primary
mirrors at a common focal plane and corrects the image
Fig. V.1.4: On January 18 th , 2006, the second primary mirror
(left) was installed at the LBT.
V.1 First Light for the Large Binocular Telescope 111
perturbations caused by the Earth's atmosphere. This will
make maximum demands on the optical, electronic, and
mechanical components, as parts of linc-nirvana will
have to be cooled down to –196 degrees Celsius for its
operation in the near-infrared range. Scientists and engineers
at the MPIA have acquired excellent competence
in this field of cryo-technology – not least because of
their participation in large scientific space observatories
such as iso.
Although not all LBT components are in place yet,
the impressive first images prove that the extensive
planning, development, and building operations are
worthwhile and that the 120 million dollar project is
well on the way to becoming the most powerful single
telescope in the world.
(Thomas Henning,
Klaus Jäger)