Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope facts for kids

The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) is a powerful telescope located on Mount Graham in southeast Arizona, United States. It is also known as the Alice P. Lennon Telescope and its Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility. This telescope is designed to observe the universe using both visible light and infrared light. It saw its "first light" (meaning it was first used to collect light from space) in 1993.

The VATT is part of the larger Mount Graham International Observatory. It is operated by the Vatican Observatory, which is one of the oldest places in the world for studying astronomy. They work together with The University of Arizona to run the telescope.

How the Telescope Works

The VATT is a type of telescope called a Gregorian telescope. It uses a special design that helps it see very clearly. The main mirror of the telescope is 1.83 meters (about 6 feet) wide. It's made in a unique "honeycomb" shape from a material called borosilicate. This design makes the mirror very light but also very strong.

The VATT's main mirror is considered "fast" because its focal length (the distance light travels to focus) is very short, equal to its diameter. This short focal length allows the telescope to have a wide and clear view of the sky. It uses a curved secondary mirror that helps focus the light even more precisely.

Both the main and secondary mirrors of the VATT are incredibly smooth and accurate. They are among the most perfectly shaped mirrors ever made for a telescope on Earth. The sky above Mount Graham is also very clear and dark. This means the VATT can often get very sharp images, even without special tools to correct for blurry air.

Building the Telescope

VATT as seen from the Large Binocular Telescope

The main mirror for the VATT was made at The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory. This lab is famous for inventing new ways to make large telescope mirrors. They developed methods like "spin-casting" (spinning the glass as it cools to create the right shape) and "stressed-lap polishing" (a special way to polish the mirror to make it super smooth). These techniques have been used for other very large telescopes around the world.

Discoveries and Research

Because the VATT has such excellent optics, it is mostly used for taking pictures of space and measuring the brightness of stars and galaxies (called photometry). It often performs better than much larger telescopes located in other places.

Some of the exciting discoveries made with the VATT include:

• Finding MACHOs (Massive Compact Halo Objects) in the Andromeda Galaxy. These are dark, heavy objects that are hard to see.
• Helping to prove a system for measuring light called the Stromvil photometric filter system.
• Finding clues about how the shape and size of galaxies have changed over billions of years.
• Discovering the first "binary Vesta chip" asteroid, which is a small space rock orbiting another.
• Studying and classifying about 100 trans-Neptunian objects. These are objects found far beyond the planet Neptune, and many of them are very faint.

How the Telescope is Funded

The government of the Vatican City State helps pay for the scientists and regular research costs of the Vatican Observatory. However, the money to build and maintain the VATT itself comes from private donations. Major donors like Fred and Alice P. Lennon, and Thomas J. Bannan, helped pay for its construction. Today, the Vatican Observatory Foundation continues to receive donations to support the VATT's ongoing operations.

Other Telescopes Nearby

The VATT is not the only telescope on Mount Graham. Other important facilities at the Mount Graham International Observatory include:

• Large Binocular Telescope
• Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope

See also

• Catholic Church and science#Vatican Observatory
• Index of Vatican City-related articles
• List of astronomical observatories
• Mount Graham International Observatory
• Safford, Arizona