The Discovery Channel Telescope
Forty miles southeast of Flagstaff, atop a cinder cone at a site known as Happy Jack, the 4.2-meter Discovery Channel Telescope is under construction. Developed by Lowell Observatory in partnership with Discovery Communications, the DCT will be operational in 2010. It will be a powerful tool for research areas including the search for Near Earth Objects (NEOs), extrasolar planets, and exploration of the newly discovered Kuiper Belt. It will also expand opportunities for public outreach and education in the exciting world of science and technology.
The DCT will look into a pristine Arizona sky from an elevation of nearly 7800'. This image is taken looking south and southwest from the site. A crescent Moon is visible over the distant Bradshaw Mountains.
You can be part of the DCT project by joining the Friends of Lowell Observatory. You'll keep up with all the progress via our quarterly newsletter, and your tax-deductible membership dues will help support the DCT and our many other programs. Join today!
Rendering of the DCT facility and dome
Lowell Observatory continues to make solid progress toward completion of the 4.2-meter Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT). Steel components for the DCT dome are currently being fabricated with construction set to begin by the end of 2008. The optical coating system, developed by DynaVac in Hingham, MA, is also in the fabrication stage with final acceptance testing set for February 2009. General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies, the contractor for detailed design and construction of the telescope mount, is working closely with DCT engineers to finalize the mount design and start fabrication in spring 2009. Meanwhile, the DCT primary mirror has entered the final polishing phase at University of Arizona, College of Optical Sciences, with delivery to the Happy Jack site scheduled for May 2009. Work on the secondary mirror and the Active Optics System is also progressing well. With first light expected by the end of 2010, the DCT marks a new era of first-class research and public outreach for Lowell Observatory thanks to its unique partnership with Discovery Communications.
For a gift of $10 or more, you can place an object and personalized message in our online Starry Sky!
Lowell Observatory is delighted to announce a $1.5 million challenge by our Board member John Giovale and his wife Ginger, and our Director Bob Millis and his wife Julie. They challenge Lowell to raise funds to complete two essential parts of the Discovery Channel Telescope: the telescope's autoguider and the Astronomer's Lodge at the Happy Jack Ranger Station.
Be part of the challenge...help build DCT, and place a commemorative object in our DCT STARRY SKY!
