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.
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?
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.
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.
They’ll probably build it on the Acropolis.
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.
That's a bit of a mis-statement.
Yes, it will be the largest single mirror but the VLT at Paranal in Chile has 4, 8.2 meter mirrors arrayed together into one logical unit. And it also utilizes 4, 1.8 meter auxiliary mirrors for a total surface area of 40 meters. Just edging out this new behemoth for total area.
Mars robots too complicated for them?
This is european saying they are still better than us?
These “scientists” still would not know Christ if He was standing in front of them.
They are just helping themselves to Other People’s Money.
Even a science dumbass like me knows they will not be able to “see” mountians on planets outside our solar system...
Got to give them credit for a heck of a sales job...
I wonder how well this thing will hold up to earthquakes?
Astronomers hope the observatory will help provide insights into the formation of galleries (sic) and the nature of black holes
Well isn't that nice....
perhaps they can see the light at the end of the economic tunnel...
As for the "balck holes" ...they just need to look a bit closer to home....(Greece...Spain...Ireland....Portugal....Italy....Iceland....etc....)
when he dismantled NASA's mission of space exploration and directed it to develop an outreach program to the Muslims.