(Tucson, Arizona) — After more than a decade of preparation, the world’s most powerful telescope is now looking skyward with both of its massive eyes wide open. The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) partners in the U.S.A., Italy and Germany are pleased to announce that the LBT has successfully achieved first binocular light. With this latest milestone, the LBT will provide new and more powerful views of deep space, including potentially answering fundamental questions about the origins of the universe and mysterious worlds in other planetary systems.

Located on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona, the $120 million LBT is the first of a new generation of extraordinarily large optical telescopes and it is breaking boundaries in astronomy and related fields. It uses two massive 8.4-meter (27.6 foot) diameter primary mirrors mounted side-by-side to produce the light gathering power equivalent to an 11.8-meter (39 foot) circular aperture. The mirrors which are lighter in weight than conventional solid-glass mirrors, due to their unique “honeycomb” structure, are now working in tandem and will be capable of operating as a single instrument. Ultimately, the interferometric combination of the light paths of the two primary mirrors will provide a resolution of a 22.8-meter (75 foot) telescope. With its capability, the LBT is the largest single telescope in the world.