Photo Advisory: 4-ton telescope part to be lifted from Ohio State building, put on truck, sent to Arizona

Ohio State’s contribution – actually the first of a pair – to the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona is finally complete.

The Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS), which has been under construction in the Department of Astronomy’s Imaging Sciences Laboratory, in the basement of McPherson Chemical Laboratory, 140 W 18th Ave., will be crane-lifted from the basement and shipped to Mt. Graham, Arizona on Friday (5/7) for installation on the world’s largest optical and infrared telescope.

The “big lift” of the MODS from the Imaging Sciences Laboratory-on the 19th Avenue side of McPherson is expected to occur around 11 a.m. tomorrow. Rick Pogge, professor of astronomy and principle investigator for the project, will be available to explain the project.

The LBT; when fully operational, will allow astronomers to look deeper into the universe than ever before thought possible. Through financial and in-kind contributions, Ohio State holds a one-eighth share of the cost of the LBT project and will enjoy a total of one-sixth of the available observing time on the telescope.

The MODS is a four-ton giant lens that will help the LBT focus light from the giant mirrors. The LBT has two mirrors, and a second MODS will be built immediately. Learn more about the MODS project: http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/MODS/index.html

Learn more about Ohio State and the LBT: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/mirror2.htm#anchor394411