Where is the Large Zenith Telescope located?
Q: Where is the Large Zenith Telescope located?
A: The Large Zenith Telescope is located in the University of British Columbia's Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, about 70 km (43 mi) east of Vancouver.
Q: How big is the Large Zenith Telescope?
A: The Large Zenith Telescope has a diameter of 6.0 metres, making it one of the largest telescopes in the world.
Q: What is a zenith telescope?
A: A zenith telescope is a type of telescope that is only able to look straight up.
Q: What does the Large Zenith Telescope use to collect and focus light?
A: The Large Zenith Telescope uses a mirror which is a smoothly spinning pan filled with liquid mercury to collect and focus light.
Q: Why is a spinning mercury mirror cheaper and better than a conventional mirror?
A: A spinning mercury mirror can be made much larger and cheaper than a conventional mirror, which means it collects much more light.
Q: What is the Large Zenith Telescope used for?
A: The Large Zenith Telescope is used for "transit imaging", which means that earth's rotation moves stars past the telescope and images can be taken by moving the sensor electronically in step with this movement.
Q: What was the Large Zenith Telescope made from?
A: The Large Zenith Telescope was made in 1994 using parts from the three-metre diameter NASA Orbital Debris Observatory telescope, which was retired a couple years earlier after several years of use.
