Editing Large Binocular Telescope (section)

== Project ==
The LBT was originally named the "Columbus Project". It is a joint project of these members: the Italian astronomical community represented by the [[Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica]], the [[University of Arizona]], [[University of Minnesota]],<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://www.nd.edu/~lumen/2007_04/FirstsciencefromtheLargeBinocularTelescope.shtml |title=First science from the Large Binocular Telescope |publisher=Nd.edu |date=2007-04-13 |access-date=2009-08-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502024118/http://www.nd.edu/~lumen/2007_04/FirstsciencefromtheLargeBinocularTelescope.shtml |archive-date=2009-05-02 }}</ref> [[University of Notre Dame]],<ref name="autogenerated1"/> [[University of Virginia]],<ref name="autogenerated1" /> the LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft in Germany ([[Max Planck Institute for Astronomy]] in Heidelberg, [[Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl|Landessternwarte]] in Heidelberg, [[Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam]] (AIP), [[Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics]] in [[Munich]] and [[Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy]] in [[Bonn]]); [[Ohio State University]]<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.-->; and the Research Corporation for Science Advancement based in Tucson, Arizona, USA. The cost was around 100 million Euro.

The telescope design has two 8.4&nbsp;m (330&nbsp;inch) mirrors mounted on a common base, hence the name "[[binoculars|binocular]]".<ref name="BBC" /> LBT takes advantage of [[active optics|active]] and [[adaptive optics]], provided by [[Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri|Arcetri Observatory]]. The collecting area is two 8.4 meter aperture mirrors, which works out to about 111&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> combined. This area is equivalent to an {{convert|11.8|m|in|adj=on|sp=us}} circular aperture, which would be greater than any other single telescope, but it is not comparable in many respects since the light is collected at a lower diffraction limit and is not combined in the same way. Also, an [[interferometry|interferometric]] mode will be available, with a maximum baseline of {{convert|22.8|m|ft|sp=us}} for aperture synthesis imaging observations and a baseline of {{convert|15|m|ft|sp=us}} for nulling interferometry. This feature is along one axis with the LBTI instrument at wavelengths of 2.9–13 micrometres, which is the near infrared.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lbti.as.arizona.edu/LBTI-Main/Instrument.html|title=LBTI Instruments|access-date=24 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310151556/http://lbti.as.arizona.edu/LBTI-Main/Instrument.html|archive-date=10 March 2012}}</ref>

The telescope was designed by a group of Italian firms, and assembled by [[Finmeccanica|Ansaldo]] in its [[Milan]]ese plant.

=== Mountain controversy ===
[[File:LBT Pinaleno Mountains.40936.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25|LBT perched on an Arizona mountain]]

The choice of location sparked considerable local controversy, both from the [[San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation|San Carlos Apache Tribe]], who view the mountain as sacred, and from environmentalists who contended that the observatory would cause the demise of an endangered subspecies of the American red squirrel, the [[Mount Graham red squirrel]]. Environmentalists and members of the tribe filed some forty lawsuits&nbsp;– eight of which went before a federal appeals court&nbsp;– but the project ultimately prevailed after an act of the [[United States Congress]].{{cn|reason=Citations needed for all facts/claims in this paragraph, please|date=November 2024}}

The telescope and mountain observatory survived two major forest fires in thirteen years, the more recent in the summer of 2017. Likewise the squirrels continue to survive. Some experts now believe their numbers fluctuate dependent upon nut harvest without regard to the observatory.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title       = The Mt. Graham Red Squirrel
 |website     = medusa.as.arizona.edu
 |date        = 2000-05-24
 |url         = http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/graham/envir.html
 |access-date  = 2010-04-25
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080324012620/http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/graham/envir.html
 |archive-date = 2008-03-24
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | title= Mount Graham red squirrel fall 2005 count announced
 | publisher= Arizona Game and Fish Department
 | date= Nov 17, 2005
 | url= http://www.azgfd.gov/artman/publish/article_423.shtml
 | access-date= 2010-04-25
 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100201074944/http://www.azgfd.gov/artman/publish/article_423.shtml
 | archive-date= 2010-02-01
 | url-status= dead
 }}</ref>