I had an opportunity to take a tour of the Mount Graham Observatories in southeastern Arizona which was something I've wanted to do for a long time. This photograph is of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, aka VATT, which is one of the three major telescopes in operation on the mountain. The VATT is operated by the Vatican Observatory of Rome, Italy. It's primary mirror is 1.83 meters in diameter with a focal ratio of f/1.0. This short length was chosen to keep the telescope and its dome fairly small. The overall optical configuration is a Gregorian Cassegrain with a focal ratio of f/9.0.
Photographer: Rick Scott
Date: October 1, 2005
Camera: Canon EOS 20D digital camera
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM at 16mm
Exposure: 0.8 seconds at f/5.6
Camera Mode: ISO 100 RAW
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS2 for RAW conversion and image processing
Updated: 31 October 2005, 31 May 2008