Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST)

On October 16th, 2008 and passed its technical assessment on December19th, 2008. According to the review panel, LAMOST has achieved what was previously believed impossible for an optical telescope by simultaneously having a large caliber and a wide field of view. Active optical technology was incorporated into its primary mirror and a correction mirror allows adjustment of over a dozen thin sub-mirrors to piece them together perfectly in real-time. The focal plane of LAMOST accommodates as many as 4,000 optical fibers, so that aspect rum of 4,000 celestial objects can be measured simultaneously. LAMOST is the largest Schmidt telescope, with the largest caliber and field of view, and therefore has the ability to pick up more spectra from celestial bodies in a single session than any other Schmidt telescope in the world. There were several technical breakthroughs during its development that have laid a solid foundation for development of large telescopes in the future.