These earthly godfathers of Heaven's lights, that give a name to every fixed star, have no more profit of their shining nights than those that walk and know not what they are.

— William Shakespeare

Schmidt

New telescope LAMOST comes online in China

The LAMOST Schmidt Telescope

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is a quasi-meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope laid down on the ground with its optical axis fixed in the meridian plane. IT has a 4m aperture. With a 1.75 m focal plane it has a 5 degree field of view, and a 1/0.25 nm spectral resolution! 4000 optical fibers collect the spectra of 4000 objects. It has  the highest spectrum acquiring rate in the world. It is located at the Xinglong Observing Station outside Bejing.