Photo - LBT - The Large Binocular Telescope, Arizona

For my birthday my wife and I went on a fun weekend trip to the Safford area of Arizona. We went there to take a tour of the three observatories on top of Mount Graham. One of them contains what is currently the largest telescope in the world, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The LBT has two 8.4 meter (27.6 feet) diameter mirrors mounted in a single frame so it acts like a pair of binoculars. When we got there, the telescope was aimed upwards in the vertical position. The telescope operator moved it to the horizontal position for us to check it out and then back to the vertical position for views from the higher platforms behind the scope. The LBT is a huge machine but is totally silent when it moves.

Front view of the LBT in its horizontal position. (14 frame panorama)
Lens: Internal 15.1-60.4 mm, set to 15.1mm
Exposure: 1/13 second at f/6.3, ISO 1600 in RAW mode

One of the primary mirrors and the secondary mirror assemblies with the scope in the horizontal position. (2 frame panorama)
Lens: Internal 15.1-60.4 mm, set to 15.1mm
Exposure: 1/13 second at f/6.3, ISO 1600 in RAW mode

One of the primary mirrors with the scope in the horizontal position.
Lens: Internal 15.1-60.4 mm, set to 15.1mm
Exposure: 1/13 second at f/6.3, ISO 1600 in RAW mode

The other primary mirror and instrument portholes with the scope in the vertical position.
Lens: Internal 15.1-60.4 mm, set to 15.1mm
Exposure: 1/15 second at f/5, ISO 800 in RAW mode

Photographer: Rick Scott
Date: September 13, 2014
Camera: Canon PowerShot G1 X digital camera
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS6 for raw conversion and image processing