At the 2,840 foot summit of the Sierra Negra in southeastern Mexico, a new telescope is being built. The Large Millimeter Telescope will have a 164 foot radio antenna. It will operate at wavelengths from .85 to 4 millimeters to study stars, galaxies, comets, planetary atmospheres, and the cosmic microwave background. It will be the world’s largest antenna operating at millimeter wavelengths.

The telescope cost $128 million and is a result of a partnership between the United States and Mexico. Mexico’s National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics, and Electronics and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst will head the telescopic studies. Observations will begin in 2008.