MMT Observatory

The MMT Observatory is an astronomical observatory on the site of Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory . The Whipple observatory complex is located on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, US in the Santa Rita Mountains. The observatory is operated by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution, and has a visitor center in nearby Amado, Arizona.
The MMTO is the home of the MMT , which has a primary mirror 6.5 m in diameter. The name comes from the six smaller mirrors originally used before the single primary mirror was installed in 1998. The primary mirror has a special lightweight honeycomb design made by the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory.
The MMT is housed in a building which allows the walls and roof around the telescope to be completely rolled back, allowing it to cool down very quickly in order to improve observation.

The Multiple Mirror Telescope operated between 1979 and 1998 with six honeycombed borosilicate mirrors by Corning, each with a diameter of 72 inches , which were donated by the NRO after cancellation of the reconnaissance mission KH-10 based on the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. These mirrors were providing the equivalent gathering area of a 4.5-meter telescope, making it the third largest optical telescope in the world at the time of its dedication. It featured ambitious design innovations including its unusual optical design proposed by Aden Meinel, a co-rotating building and an altitude-azimuth mount.

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