February 2nd, 2008, 10:12 AM
I have read an article in Sky and Telescope magazine that there are three new telescopes in the planning stages.
They are the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the 24 meter Magellan Giant Telescope (MGT) and the 42 meter European Extremely Large Telescope (EELT). That is good news.
The bad news is that they will not be in action until 2016.
However, the Jim West Space Telescope that was the NGST originally, will be launched in 2011, I hope.
Cosmo
nice, i'll be 32 by then, and hopefully working in the field!
What's the biggest optical telescope right now?
I still think the Keck Twins (10 meters) in Hawai are the largest.Originally Posted by MacGyver1968
In the South Andes(?) the European foresome that are 8 meters and operating as interferometers are also a big combination.
The Kecks also operate as interferometers.
Cosmo
Does that mean they use two telescopes to act as one big one?
El Gran Telescopio Canarias, 10.4 m
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Telescopio_Canarias
Wow...so these new telescopes will be 3-4 times larger than any existing one? Cool...I couldn't imagine how they could make a mirror that big without any distortions....or is it segmented?
No. They will nine to sixteen times larger. The relevant factor is the light gathering capcity which is dependent upon area, so it increases with the square of the diameter. 8)
That's even better! I like Astronomy...just don't know that much about it.
No, but the interferometry does give the telescopes a means of determining accurate 'angular' sizes and more precise evaluation of the 'redshifts' of the objects.
Cosmo
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