Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) is a division of

Steward Observatory Steward Observatory is the research arm of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona (UArizona). Its offices are located on the UArizona campus in Tucson, Arizona (US). Established in 1916, the first telescope and building were f ...

, the research arm for the Department of Astronomy at The University of Arizona, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It is located in southeastern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

's Pinaleño Mountains near

Mount Graham Mount Graham (called in Nnee biyati' (Western Apache) Dził Nchaa Sí'an - ′Big Seated Mountain′) is a mountain in Graham County, Arizona, United States, approximately northeast of Tucson. The mountain reaches in height. It is the highes ...

. Construction of MGIO began in 1989. MGIO currently operates and maintains facilities for three scientific organizations. The first two telescopes, the

Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope The 1.8 meter Alice P. Lennon Telescope and its Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility, known together as the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), is a Gregorian telescope observing in the optical and infrared situated on Mount Graham in ...

and the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope began operations in 1993. The

Large Binocular Telescope The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is an optical telescope for astronomy located on Mount Graham, in the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona, United States. It is a part of the Mount Graham International Observatory. When using both ...

, one of the world's largest and most powerful optical telescopes, began operations using mirrors independently in 2004, with joint operations between the two mirrors beginning in 2008. Public tours of the MGIO are conducted by the Eastern Arizona College's (EAC) Discovery Park Campus between mid-April and mid-October (weather permitting and subject to reservations).

List of facilities

operated by the Large Binocular Telescope Corporation. * Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope, operated by Arizona Radio Observatory. *

, operated by the Vatican Observatory.

References

External links

*
Official website

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{{Authority control Astronomical observatories in Arizona Buildings and structures in Graham County, Arizona Pinaleño Mountains Tourist attractions in Graham County, Arizona 1989 establishments in Arizona

List of facilities

See also

References

External links