Problems with light pollution....should have built it in North Korea
LOl..very good...
Posted on 06/13/2012 8:16:42 AM PDT by LibWhacker
£872million project will be built on Chilean mountaintop by 2022
A coalition of 15 European countries has announced plans to build the biggest telescope in the world.
The mirror inside the telescope will measure 39metres across - four times wider than today's biggest telescope - and it will be so powerful that astronomers will even be able to observe dark, rocky planets far beyond our solar system.
The European Southern Observatory project is supported by 15 members of the European Union and has the catchy name 'European Extremely Large Telescope'... even if it will be built in Chile, to avoid light pollution.
The twin infrared/optical telescope will sit on top of a 3,060metre mountaintop, giving unparralled views of the sky above, and should hopefully come online in 2022.
Astronomers hope the observatory will help provide insights into the formation of galleries (sic) and the nature of black holes
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This is stupid in both directions. I thought Europe was starving for funds and they can somehow waste money doing this??
After all, seeing Mountain tops on distant Planets is much better use of the money that Europe doesn’t have.
No problem. The Muslims will tear it down because it’s somehow an affront to them.
Problems with light pollution....should have built it in North Korea.
Exactly my thought.
I thought Earth bound telescopes had problems with their resolution due to the atmosphere and light pollution no matter how big their mirrors are which is why I thought they placed Hubble in space?
The muslims will be outraged! This mountaintop is the 17,245th holiest place in Islam.
Chile is a good location--there is an area in northern Chile which is one of the driest places on earth, so rain and clouds don't interfere with observation.
No matter how big they make the telescope, they won't be able to see the mountains on Venus, the nearest planet.
While there are still many limitations to earth based telescopes, adaptive optics can minimize many of them.
I believe there’s another even larger optical array type telescope that’s been under construction for several years. It will consist of something like 9 eight meter mirrors
My dream is an asteroid belt array and if I ever become a trillionaire I’ll build it and show you all up. an Ort cloud array would be even better.
You’re either first in science across the board or you pick and choose. Global warming anyone?
They have software that can filter out the effects of the atmosphere.
They’ll probably build it on the Acropolis.
Atmosphere is still a problem, but there have been a number of developments lately that make ground based telescopes much better than they ever could have been in the old days: adaptive optics, etc.
Problems with light pollution....should have built it in North Korea
LOl..very good...
Why?
I’m inclined to call BS on this proposition.
Back in the day, I recall extensive reading into the development of ‘optical’ telescopes that made clear the limitations imposed on the construction of lenses to function in a 1G acceleration field due to physical deformation of the lens affecting focus and image clarity.
I am not aware of advances in material science that suggest the feasibility of constructing a 39 Meter ( that’s ~130 Feet ) diameter lens mounted in a movable / steerable equatorial mounting structure as pictured in the posted article.
The ‘equivalent’ resolving and imaging capabilities are readily available from an ‘array’ of smaller lenses aggregated into a ‘virtual’ lens of almost ANY arbitrary dimensions. And a LOT cheaper to acquire / maintain.
Those Euroes sound, to me, like a bunch of lamers ...
One Man’s Opinion
21stCenturion
The European Union may not survive 2012.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.