page_title: Magdalena Ridge Observatory
section_title: Magdalena Ridge Optical Interferometer
hierarchical_section_title: Magdalena Ridge Observatory / Telescopes / Magdalena Ridge Optical Interferometer
caption_attribution_description: English: Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer computer graphic overlay of the BCF building and the ten telescopes
context_page_description: The Magdalena Ridge Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Socorro County, New Mexico, about 32 kilometers west of the town of Socorro. The observatory is located in the Magdalena Mountains near the summit of South Baldy Mountain, adjacent to the Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. Currently operational at the site is a 2.4-meter fast-tracking optical telescope, and under construction is a ten-element optical interferometer.
  The MRO Interferometer is an international scientific collaboration between New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and the Cavendish Astrophysics Group of University of Cambridge. The project is principally funded by the United States Naval Research Laboratory, which also supports the Navy Optical Interferometer near Flagstaff, Arizona. NRL is part of the Office of Naval Research. New Mexico State University, New Mexico Highlands University, the University of Puerto Rico, and Los Alamos National Laboratory were originally partners, but have since withdrawn.
context_section_description: The Magdalena Ridge Optical Interferometer (MROI) is an optical and near infrared interferometer under construction at MRO. When the MROI is completed, it will have ten 1.4 m (55 in) telescopes located on three 340 m (1,120 ft) arms. Each arm will have nine stations where the telescopes can be positioned, and one telescope can be positioned at the center. The telescopes and their enclosures will be moved with a customized crane. Light from the telescopes' primary mirrors will be directed along the arms to the Beam Combining Facility (BCF). These pipes will be evacuated of all air in order to reduce distortions. Inside the BCF, the light will first travel through extensions of the pipes in the Delay Line Area, which will bring the light beams into phase. Then light will exit the vacuum pipes in the Beam Combining Area (BCA), where the light will be directed into one of three permanent sensors, or to a temporary instrument on a fourth table. The light will strike a total of eleven mirrors before entering a sensor.
  The MROI was designed with three research areas in mind: star and planet formation, stellar accretion and mass loss, and active galactic nuclei. An interferometer was selected because such devices can be built with higher resolving power than single-mirror telescopes, enabling them to image distant objects in greater detail. However, they do not provide more light-gathering capacity, as the total area of the mirrors is usually small.
caption: Artist's conception of the MROI array
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