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, Inc., 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 announced signing a contract the week of May 12, 2008 with General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies of Richardson, Texas for the detailed design and construction of the telescope mount for the Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT). The Observatory also recently contracted with DynaVac of Hingham, Massachusetts for construction and delivery of the mirror coating chamber for the 4.2-meter DCT primary mirror. Meanwhile, M3 Engineering of Tucson, Arizona is putting the finishing touches on the dome design, with construction expected to commence later this year. With the mount contract now underway, all components of the Discovery Channel Telescope are either completed, under construction, or in detailed design. The Discovery Channel Telescope is on track for first light in 2010. The new telescope is being built by Lowell Observatory, at an exceptional new site in northern Arizona, in 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!
