James Clerk Maxwell telescope

From Object Wiki

Sample panel and adjustor motor for the James Clerk Maxwell sub-millimetre telescope
Manufacturer	Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Production years	1983-1987

The panel and motor are a sample of the 276 fitted to the James Clerk Maxwell (JCM) sub-millimetre telescope which forms a 15-metre parabolic dish. The honeycombed panel is of lightweight aluminium construction and has a pre-shaped top surface accurate to 40 microns. The panels are supported on a steel frame but can be adjusted individually with the adjuster motor in 3-micron steps. The very accurate shape of the radio dish allows the telescope to be used at wavelengths as short as 0.5 mm.

[edit] How this instrument is used

The JCM telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii is the largest telescope in the world designed to operate detect sub-millimetre wavelength radiation (between the far-infrared and microwave regions of the electromagnetic spectrum). The adjuster motors under each panel helps the dish maintain an overall parabola shape as it changes orientation.

[edit] Memories

Do you remember this telescope? Add your memories.

[edit] In the Science Museum's Records

Inv. number: 1992-206