200 most important Astronomy topics - Sykalo Eugen 2023


The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET)

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is a unique astronomical telescope located at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, USA. It was built in the 1990s by a team of scientists and engineers from the University of Texas at Austin, Pennsylvania State University, and other institutions. The HET was designed to be a low-cost alternative to other large telescopes, such as the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the Gemini Observatory in Chile.

History of the HET

The idea of the HET was first proposed in the 1980s when astronomers at the University of Texas at Austin were looking for a way to build a large telescope that would be both powerful and affordable. The project was named after two donors, William P. Hobby and Robert E. Eberly. Construction of the HET began in 1993 and was completed in 1996.

Design of the HET

The HET has a unique design that sets it apart from other telescopes. Instead of using a single, large mirror to collect light, the HET uses an array of 91 small mirrors, each measuring 1 meter in diameter. These mirrors are arranged in a hexagonal pattern and are mounted on a movable platform.

The platform tilts to point the mirrors at different parts of the sky and collects light from the objects being observed. The light is then sent to a spectrograph, which separates the light into its different colors and allows scientists to study the chemical composition and other properties of the objects.

The HET has a total collecting area of 11.1 meters, which is comparable to much larger telescopes such as the Keck Observatory. However, the HET was built at a fraction of the cost of these other telescopes, making it a valuable resource for astronomers who want to study the night sky without breaking the bank.

Scientific Contributions of the HET

The HET has made many important contributions to astronomy since it began operations in 1997. One of its most notable achievements is the discovery of several new planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.

In 2011, the HET discovered a planet orbiting the star HD 37605, which is located about 42 light-years from Earth. This planet, known as HD 37605b, is a gas giant that is about 2.8 times the mass of Jupiter. The HET was also used in the discovery of the first known planet orbiting a binary star system, Kepler-16b, in 2011.

The HET has also been used to study the properties of distant galaxies and to measure the expansion rate of the universe. In 2014, a team of scientists used the HET to measure the distances to several galaxies and found that the expansion rate of the universe is faster than previously thought.

The HET has also been used to study the mysterious dark energy that is believed to be accelerating the expansion of the universe. In 2016, a team of astronomers used the HET to measure the spectra of over 1,000 galaxies to study the effects of dark energy on the universe.

Future of the HET

The HET is still an important research tool for astronomers and scientists today, but it is facing some changes in the future. In 2017, the HET underwent a major upgrade to its spectrograph, which improved its capabilities for studying the chemical composition of objects in the universe.

There are also plans to upgrade the telescope's mirror array with new technology, which will allow the HET to observe even fainter objects in the universe. The HET is expected to continue to be a valuable resource for astronomers in the coming years, helping us to better understand the mysteries of the universe.