Hans Lippershey is commonly recognized for creating the telescope in the early 1600s. 漢斯．利伯希因為在十七世紀初創造出望遠鏡而廣為人知。
Back then, it was a simple instrument consisting of a tube containing two lenses. 當時，望遠鏡是個簡單的儀器，僅由一個管子裡裝上兩片鏡片組成。
Now, today, because of technology, ingenuity and precision craftsmanship, we now have telescopes able to bring objects from the farthest depths of space into focus. 如今，由於科技進展、創造巧思以及精準工藝，現在我們已有望遠鏡能夠看到太空深處最遙遠的物體。
I'm John Hill. I'm the technical director here at LBT. 我是約翰．希爾，我是 LBT 的技術總監。
LBT stands for Large Binocular Telescope. LBT 指大雙筒望遠鏡。
This telescope has two big mirrors on the same mounting, and that's the main thing that makes it different from other big telescopes. 這具望遠鏡有兩大面鏡子安裝在同一個基座上，這正是這具望遠鏡和其他大型望遠鏡的主要差異。
Because this telescope can bring the light from the two sides together in the center, we can get three times the resolution of what a regular eight-meter telescope would get. 由於這具望遠鏡能夠將來自兩側的光線集中到中央，所以我們得到的解析度可以達到普通八公尺望遠鏡的三倍。
A telescope this big can see basically to the edge of the universe -- objects that were around 13 billion years ago, more or less. 這麼大的望遠鏡基本上可以看見宇宙的邊緣——大約一百三十億年前的物體。
We put the telescope up here on a high mountaintop because it's above most of the water vapor in the atmosphere. 我們把這具望遠鏡建造在高山山頂，因為這裡位於大氣中大部分的水氣之上。
All that silver building rotates around for the telescope to view different parts of the sky. 那整棟銀色建物會旋轉，好讓望遠鏡觀看天空的不同區塊。
After sunset, we'll open the doors. 日落之後，我們就會把門打開。
Each of these big mirrors has a surface accuracy of a millionth of an inch. 這些大鏡子每一個的表面精度都達到百萬分之一英寸。
You don't think of a millionth of an inch too much every day, but that's about one twentieth of a hair. 你在日常生活中不會特別去想百萬分之一英寸，不過這大約是一根頭髮粗細的二十分之一。
Each of the two mirrors is 8.4 meters, or 27 feet, across. That weighs about 16 tons. 這兩面鏡子都是八點四公尺寬，相當於二十七英尺，重量約為十六噸。
And then the whole moving telescope is about 800 tons. 至於整具能夠移動的望遠鏡，則是重約八百噸。
It's a very big telescope, and you say, "Eight hundred tons, ah, it's a behemoth. It's this very heavy thing." 這是一具非常大的望遠鏡。你會說：「八百噸，啊，真是個巨無霸，非常重的東西。」
But, for a telescope this size with 110 square meters of collecting area, it is very lightweight and very precise. 不過，就體積如此巨大且集光面積達一百一十平方公尺的望遠鏡而言，這具望遠鏡其實算很輕，而且非常精準。
It moves on these big bearings that are machined to a precision of about 20 microns. That's about half a hair. 這具望遠鏡靠這些大型軸承來旋轉，以機器控制精準度約達二十微米，大概相當於一根頭髮粗細的一半。
And that's smoother than your average machined surface. 那比一般的機器加工平面還要平滑。
There are four motors on each axis and then a computer that's controlling those motors. 每個軸心都有四個馬達，還有一部電腦控制那些馬達。
The computer knows exactly how the Earth is rotating. It knows what the refraction in the air is doing. 電腦知道地球旋轉的確切狀態，也知道空氣的折射效果。
It tracks to a precision of about a hundredth of an arcsecond. 電腦追蹤的精準度達到一角秒的百分之一左右。
It knows everything it needs to know to make a smooth track for where that star goes, and it's all very carefully balanced. 電腦也知道一切必要的因素來構成平順的軌道，追蹤星體的動向，而且一切都非常精細平衡，
So, that relatively small motors can move it around the sky. 所以相對小巧的馬達即可讓望遠鏡旋轉對準天空各處。
So, it works just like this camera that you guys have here. 所以，這具望遠鏡的運作方式就像你們的攝影機一樣。
We have to have a steady mount and we have to have good focus. 我們必須要有穩固的基座，也必須有良好的對焦。
And then we've got one more trick that you guys don't have, which is we have adaptive optics. 不過，我們還有一個技倆是你們沒有的，就是我們有適應性光學技術。
We measure the turbulence that's coming down through the atmosphere, and then on the secondary mirror, we put the reverse of that shape and we cancel out that turbulence. 我們會測量來自大氣的干擾，然後在次鏡放上相反的形狀來抵消干擾。
So, we're seeing planets that we haven't seen before and we're making better images of planets that people discovered with other telescopes. 所以，我們看見了以前沒看過的行星，別人用其他望遠鏡觀察到的行星，我們也拍出了比較清楚的影像。