James Clerk Maxwell Telescope


James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

(jaymz klark maks -wĕl) (JCMT) A 15-meter diameter radio telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at an altitude of 4100 meters. It operates in the millimeter and submillimeter wavebands, between 2 mm and 350 μm. The primary reflector consists of 276 adjustable panels, which give a surface accuracy of better than 30 μm. It is equipped with line receivers and continuum receivers at the Cassegrain and two Nasmyth foci; for maximum sensitivity the receivers are cryogenically cooled to 4 K (line) and as low as 0.1 K (continuum). The telescope has an altazimuth mounting and is housed in a carousel that rotates with the antenna. The JCMT became operational in Dec. 1986. It is operated by the Joint Astronomy Center in Hilo, Hawaii on behalf of its parent research councils in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands.