page_title: James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
hierarchical_section_title: James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
caption_attribution_description: English: Model of James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Photographed at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Annual Meeting 2009.
context_page_description: The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is a submillimetre-wavelength telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, US. The telescope is near the summit of Mauna Kea at 13,425 feet. Its primary mirror is 15 metres across: it is the largest single-dish telescope that operates in submillimetre wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Scientists use it to study the Solar System, interstellar dust and gas, and distant galaxies.
  The JCMT started operations in 1987, and was funded until February 2015 by a partnership between the United Kingdom and Canada, and the Netherlands. It was operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre and was named in honour of mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. In March 2015 the operation of the JCMT was taken over by the East Asian Observatory.
  The telescope was combined with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory next to it, to form the first submillimetre interferometer. This success was important in pushing ahead the construction of the later Submillimeter Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array interferometers. In recent years it has also taken part in Event Horizon Telescope observations, which produced the first direct image of a black hole.
context_section_description: The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is a submillimetre-wavelength telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, US. The telescope is near the summit of Mauna Kea at 13,425 feet (4,092 m). Its primary mirror is 15 metres (16.4 yards) across: it is the largest single-dish telescope that operates in submillimetre wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum (far-infrared to microwave). Scientists use it to study the Solar System, interstellar dust and gas, and distant galaxies.
  The JCMT started operations in 1987, and was funded until February 2015 by a partnership between the United Kingdom and Canada, and the Netherlands. It was operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre and was named in honour of mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. In March 2015 the operation of the JCMT was taken over by the East Asian Observatory.
  The telescope was combined with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory next to it, to form the first submillimetre interferometer. This success was important in pushing ahead the construction of the later Submillimeter Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array interferometers. In recent years it has also taken part in Event Horizon Telescope observations, which produced the first direct image of a black hole.
caption: Scale model of JCMT
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture 3.1.1", "Image DateTime": "2009:04:20 15:05:58", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/25", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:04:20 15:05:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:04:20 15:05:58", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "2647/570", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5404/1495", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "22", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3888", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "195065/44", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "102433/23", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}