What the devil? Scientists tap power of 'Lucifer' Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/what-the-devil-scientists-tap-power-of-lucifer/#y9xJ82WpKVrQ6pgW.99

It’s one of the most powerful and advanced telescopes in the world – and it uses the fierce power of LUCIFER to capture images of planets outside our solar system and peer back toward the beginning of time.

The Large Binocular Telescope, or LBT, perched atop the Mount Graham International Observatory in southeastern Arizona, contains an immensely powerful tool that allows humans to observe the faintest and most distant objects in the heavens.

Those objects can be detected with the help of LUCIFER – a beastly set of super-cooled, near-infrared cameras also known as Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research.

The first camera, LUCIFER I, was fitted to the telescope in 2010. According to some reports, LUCIFER II is set to be installed as early as this year.

But why did scientists choose the widely known moniker for Satan when naming the instruments?

And what is the Vatican’s widely rumored involvement with LUCIFER?

WND contacted German astronomers at the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University who gave LUCIFER its diabolical name.

Professor and astronomer Andreas Quirrenbach, who also identified himself as a Catholic, told WND there’s a common misconception about the term “Lucifer.”

“The origin of the name is Latin, meaning ‘bearer of light,’” Quirrenbach said. “Whereas today most people may associate the name with a mythical fallen angel, who is also frequently identified with the devil, this is by no means the only and also not the original use of the name.

“In fact the designation ‘Lucifer’ was used in antiquity to designate the ‘morning star,’ i.e., the planet Venus when it is visible in the morning sky. This is the first use of the name, and so its occurrence in astronomy precedes any religious connotations.”

more here: WND