24 September 2024
The Large Zenith Telescope is the third-largest optical telescope in North America and the largest liquid mirror telescope in the world.
Completed in 2003, the telescope is housed in the UBC Liquid-Mirror Observatory at Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, overlooking British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.
It has a six-metre diameter and weighs three metric tons.
Project / Large Zenith Telescope
Location / Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Status / Completed
Date / 2003
Specification / Six-metre diameter
Weight / Three metric tons
The Large Zenith Telescope project started in 1994, as a collaboration between scientists at UBC, Laval University and the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris.
The goal was to create a zenith-pointing telescope employing a rotating liquid-metal primary mirror of at least 5-metres diameter, with which to conduct astronomical surveys.
Since inception of the project, it has grown to include astronomers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Columbia University.
To simplify logistics and decrease project overheads, developers chose to locate the telescope on a hilltop in the UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, approximately 70 km East of Vancouver.
The 6-metre aperture of the telescope makes it the third-largest optical telescope in North America.
It’s rotating liquid mirror, weighing approximately 3 tonnes, is the largest ever built.
Fantastic structures, such as the Large Zenith Telescope – Maple Ridge, British Columbia, could not have been built without the invaluable help of structural engineers.
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