The new optical telescopes will look like giant insect eyes - the GMT will use 7 primary mirrors arranged in a flower pattern. Credit: Giant Magellan Telescope - Carnegie Observatories. Artwork by Todd Mason, Mason Productions. (Click to enlarge)
4,5 times the current size might not sound like much. But ponder this: The first telescope was 60 inches. It allowed us to study details in the Milky Way. The next telescope was 100 inches. When we pointed it to the stars we discovered there were other galaxies. The new optical telescopes will be 1000 inches... The TMT telescope with a comparison to the Hale and Keck mirrors. Credit: Doug Cummings/Caltech (click to enlarge).
The American optical scopes are still largely unfunded. The cost is 500 million each, or the budget of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Back of the TMT, courtesy California Institute of Technology.
The ‘Square Kilometer Array’SKA radio telescope will have a collecting area of one million square metres - making it 200 times bigger than the current radio telescopes. It will be so powerful, we could to tune in on TV broadcasts from our closest stars. Image courtesy of csiro.au (Click to enlarge)
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2020: Closing in on Universe in our lifetime - building the biggest eye
Posted: Jan 24, 2006 08:23 pm EST
(Pythom.com) 5 years from now, we should have detected the first earth like planets circling other stars. In 2020, the world’s largest radio telescope should be finished - 200 times bigger than the current radio telescopes. And in 2016, the world's largest optical observatory could be up, 4.5 times the collecting power of any telescope on Earth. Imagine that. All you have to do is stay alive for another ten years, save 5 more for wrecked deadlines, and you'll experience the Universe like never before.
See other blue planets
Both the radio and the optical telescopes will seek to unveil the mystery of the dark matter - the mysterious energy blasting our Universe into empty space. The telescopes will in addition help us to map 96% of our visible Universe, down to exact locations, chemical setup and mass. We'll be able not only to calculate the presence of other Earths' - but actually see them with our own eyes.
The optical telescopes will look like giant insect eyes - the GMT will use 7 primary mirrors arranged in a flower pattern. 4,5 times the current size might not sound like much. But ponder this: The first telescope was 60 inches. It allowed us to study details in the Milky Way. The next telescope was 100 inches. When we pointed it to the stars we discovered there were other galaxies. The new optical telescopes will be 1000 inches...
Our vision and our money
The GMT consortium includes the Carnegie Observatories, Harvard University, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, University of Arizona, University of Michigan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A&M University. The TMT is a brainchild of Caltech and partners.
The biggest difference between the SKA (radio telescope) and the American optical scopes is that the financing is set for SKA (bankrolled by a European consortium). The American optical scopes are still largely unfunded. The cost is 500 million each, or the budget of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. It's a lot of money, but not all that much: If you invest, you'll own the very edge of human exploration of your time.
What we'll hear and what we'll see
SKA will be so powerful, we could to tune in on TV broadcasts from our closest stars. We'll locate and weigh a billion galaxies...their distribution explaining the nature of the Dark Energy. But more important - we'll hear Space like we've never heard it before.
The Giant Magellan Telescope will allow an unprecedented view of extrasolar planets. With its powerful resolution and enormous collecting area, the GMT will be able to probe the secrets of planets that have formed around other stars in the Milky Way, peer back in time toward the Big Bang with unprecedented clarity, delve into the nature of dark matter and dark energy, and explore the formation of black holes—the most important questions in astronomy today.
With the new instruments, we'll map virtually all of the visible Universe. After that, we'll know exactly where to sail our ships - propelled perhaps by the black energy we discover on the way.
“The upcoming decade promises to be a very exciting one for astronomy," says a Carnegie News Release. In fact, mankind is on the verge of a new exploration that will amaze most of us.
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