Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope

The Heinrich -Hertz- Telescope (HHT ), today Submillimeter Telescope ( SMT ) is a radio telescope for observations in the submillimeter wavelength range, with location on Mount Graham, United States.

The telescope was the University of Arizona built jointly by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and the Arizona Radio Observatory ( ARO) and put into operation in 1993. It has receiver for the millimeter and submillimeter range down to 0.45 mm wavelength. Is at the site, due to the height of 3186 m, disturbing atmospheric water vapor is greatly reduced, but the observation quality is not comparable to higher observatories such as Mauna Kea Observatory or the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment of location. Meanwhile, the telescope will be operated solely by the ARO.

Technical details

• The total weight of submillimeter telescope is 135 tons.
• The mirror surface of the telescope is made of 176 panels, whose diameter is 15 meters.
• It has receiver for the millimeter and submillimeter range from 0.7 to 4 mm.
• Positioning accuracy in the sky: 2-3 arcsec
• Resolution in the sky at 1 mm wavelength: 17 arc seconds