Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory facts for kids

The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is a special place where scientists study space. It's an observatory in America, owned and run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). This is their biggest site outside of their main office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

You can find it near Amado, Arizona, on a mountain called Mount Hopkins. Scientists here use powerful telescopes to look at stars, planets, and even distant galaxies. They also study special kinds of light like gamma rays and cosmic rays that come from space.

History of the Observatory

Work on the observatory began in 1966. The Smithsonian helped fund the project. In 1968, a special telescope called the Whipple 10-meter gamma-ray telescope was built.

This observatory used to be called The Mount Hopkins Observatory. But in 1981, it was renamed. It was given the new name to honor Fred Lawrence Whipple. He was a famous expert on planets and a pioneer in space science. He also used to be the director of SAO.

Amazing Telescopes and Equipment

Mirrors on one of the VERITAS detectors

The Whipple Observatory has many different telescopes. One of the most important is the MMT Observatory. This telescope has a huge 6.5-meter mirror. It is run together by SAO and the University of Arizona.

There are also other telescopes, including 1.5-meter and 1.2-meter telescopes. Another 1.3-meter telescope is called PAIRITEL. The observatory also hosts the HATNet (Hungarian-made Automated Telescope) network. Plus, there's the MEarth Project and four 0.7-meter telescopes that are part of MINERVA. MINERVA stands for Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array.

The observatory is famous for its work in studying gamma rays from the ground. They developed a special method called the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT). They used the Whipple 10-meter Telescope for this in the 1980s. After 40 years of service, the Whipple 10-meter telescope is now getting ready to retire.

In April 2007, a new system called VERITAS began working fully. VERITAS is made of four IACT telescopes, each with a 12-meter mirror. In September 2009, one of these telescopes was moved. This made the group of telescopes more balanced and helped them see even better.

Images for kids

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  Mirrors on one of the VERITAS detectors

See also

In Spanish: Observatorio Fred Lawrence Whipple para niños