Our New Telescope is Operational
Our new telescope in New Mexico — we call it MUT, or Multi-Use Telescope. It can see the explosion flashes caused by meteoroids hitting the moon, measure dust coming off comets, see meteors in the atmosphere, and track satellites/space junk.
MUT also takes nice pictures!
Test image with the MUT telescope we just set up in New Mexico. The globular star cluster M-13 in the constellation Hercules, seen at 30-second exposure.
MUT image of Comet Garradd, discovered back in 2009. Now at magnitude 7.5 — visible in good binoculars — Garradd is a first-time visitor to the inner solar system. It will be closest to the sun around Christmas, when it is just outside the orbit of Mars.
Credit: NASA/MSFC/Meteoroid Environment Office
