Research activities include imaging and spectroscopy of extragalactic, stellar, solar system and extra-solar bodies, as well as gamma-ray and cosmic-ray astronomy.
In 1966, roadwork began on the current site with funding granted for the Smithsonian Mt. Hopkins Observatory. The Whipple 10-meter gamma-ray telescope was constructed in 1968.
Formerly known as the Mount Hopkins Observatory, the observatory was renamed in late 1981 in honor of Fred Lawrence Whipple, a planetary expert, space science pioneer, and director emeritus of SAO, under whose leadership the Arizona facility was established.[citation needed]
Equipmentedit
Mirrors on one of the VERITAS detectors
Whipple observatory hosts the MMT Observatory, which is jointly run by SAO and the University of Arizona and houses a 6.5-meter telescope. The observatory also has 1.5- and 1.2-meter reflectors and a second 1.3-meter reflector named PAIRITEL (Peters Automated IR Imaging Telescope, ex-2MASS ). Also on site is the HATNet (Hungarian-made Automated Telescope) network, the MEarth Project, and four 0.7-meter telescopes of the automated Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA).
The observatory is known for its pioneering work in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy through the development of the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique (IACT) with the Whipple 10-meter Telescope during the early 1980s. The Whipple 10-meter is currently preparing to be decommissioned after forty years of service.
In April 2007, VERITAS (a system of 4 IACT telescopes with 12-meter reflectors) started full operations at the FLWO basecamp. Subsequently, in September 2009, after a 4-month effort, one of the telescopes was moved to a new position, making the array symmetric and increasing its sensitivity.
fred, lawrence, whipple, observatory, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, relies, excessively, references, primary, sources, please, improve,. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2012 Learn how and when to remove this message This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations October 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is an American astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory SAO it is their largest field installation outside of their main site in Cambridge Massachusetts It is located near Amado Arizona on the summit a ridge and at the foot of Mount Hopkins Fred Lawrence Whipple ObservatoryEntrance to the Fred Lawrence Whipple ObservatoryAlternative namesThe Mount Hopkins ObservatoryNamed afterFred Lawrence Whipple Observatory codeG91 696 LocationMount Hopkins Amado Mount Hopkins USCoordinates31 40 52 N 110 52 41 W 31 6811 N 110 878 W 31 6811 110 878Altitude2 606 m 8 550 ft Established1968 Websitelinmax wbr sao wbr arizona wbr edu wbr help wbr FLWO wbr whipple wbr htmlTelescopesMMT Observatory6 5 m reflectorTelescope1 5 m reflectorTelescope1 2 m reflectorPAIRITEL V07 Chile 1 3 m reflectorMINERVA0 7m 5 telescopesVERITAS12 m 4 telescope arrayHATNet telescopesoptical refractorLocation of Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory Related media on Commons edit on Wikidata Research activities include imaging and spectroscopy of extragalactic stellar solar system and extra solar bodies as well as gamma ray and cosmic ray astronomy Contents 1 History 2 Equipment 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory editIn 1966 roadwork began on the current site with funding granted for the Smithsonian Mt Hopkins Observatory The Whipple 10 meter gamma ray telescope was constructed in 1968 Formerly known as the Mount Hopkins Observatory the observatory was renamed in late 1981 in honor of Fred Lawrence Whipple a planetary expert space science pioneer and director emeritus of SAO under whose leadership the Arizona facility was established citation needed Equipment edit nbsp Mirrors on one of the VERITAS detectors Whipple observatory hosts the MMT Observatory which is jointly run by SAO and the University of Arizona and houses a 6 5 meter telescope The observatory also has 1 5 and 1 2 meter reflectors and a second 1 3 meter reflector named PAIRITEL Peters Automated IR Imaging Telescope ex 2MASS Also on site is the HATNet Hungarian made Automated Telescope network the MEarth Project and four 0 7 meter telescopes of the automated Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array MINERVA The observatory is known for its pioneering work in ground based gamma ray astronomy through the development of the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique IACT with the Whipple 10 meter Telescope during the early 1980s The Whipple 10 meter is currently preparing to be decommissioned after forty years of service In April 2007 VERITAS a system of 4 IACT telescopes with 12 meter reflectors started full operations at the FLWO basecamp Subsequently in September 2009 after a 4 month effort one of the telescopes was moved to a new position making the array symmetric and increasing its sensitivity See also editList of astronomical observatories Whipple spacecraft References editExternal links edit nbsp Media related to Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory at Wikimedia Commons Arizona edu Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory Archived 2022 02 21 at the Wayback Machine Harvard edu Whipple Observatory Visitor s Center Portals nbsp Arizona nbsp Astronomy nbsp Stars nbsp Spaceflight nbsp Outer space nbsp Solar System nbsp Education nbsp Science Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory amp oldid 1208934517, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
