The Large Millimeter Telescope
The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) was inaugurated in 2006. It is the largest and most sensitive single dish radio telescope in its frequency range, the observation was built for radio waves at wavelengths between 0.85 and 4 mm. It has a diameter of 50 meters and 2000 meters of collecting area.
It is situated on the summit of Sierra Negra, an extinct volcano and fifth highest peak in Mexico, a neighbor of the highest mountain in Mexico, Pico de Orizaba in the state of Puebla.
Its construction took 10 years and had a cost of 116 million dollars. This is a joint project between Mexico (80%) and the United States (20%) through the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) and the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.
The observations in the millimeter wavelengths using the GTM will give astronomers a view of regions obscured by dust in the interstellar medium, thus increasing our knowledge about the formation of stars. The telescope is also particularly well equipped for observation of planets and solar system planetesimals and protoplanetary disks outside our solar system that are relatively cold, which emits radiation at millimeter wavelengths. There are also proposals for observing fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background as well as active galactic nuclei.
