November 11, 201411 yr So astronomers amuse themselves much as we do, by indulging their size fetish. And then laughing at it with a series of comically pedestrian names. It started with a succession of Large Telescopes made possible by actively controlled, segmented-mirror designs that broke through the limit imposed by single-mirror casting and flexure issues, such as the South African Large Telescope, the largest in the southern hemisphere with a hexagonal mirror array 11 meters across. Next came a series of Very Large Telescopes such as the VLT Array, "consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes." Now the march is to a generation of Extremely Large Telescopes, the leader being the European Extremely Large Telescope, a 39-meter behemoth planned for erection on Chile's Cerro Armazone mountain... ...and not in situ, but for comparison with other Extremely Large Things... ...the London Eye... ...the Pyramids. And far from being the limit of their imaginings, the E-ELT was merely what the astronomy community had to settle on for now, it being a scaling back of their original plan to build -- of course -- an Overwhelmingly Large Telescope! With a primary mirror assembly 100 meters across, the OWL would have almost unbelievable imaging power... Growth of telescope diameters across the years...
November 11, 201411 yr Active Members Extremely and Large are 2 words that always command MY attention.... So imagine my disappointment when I discovered they refered to telescopes.....
November 12, 201411 yr Active Members Is she atop a wishing well? I know that I am. Best regards, RA1
January 17, 201511 yr Author Extremely cool for telescope nerds. Formation-flying satellites link up to create giant virtual telescope in orbit http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/17/formation-flying-satellites-space-telescopes-esa-proba-3
January 17, 201511 yr Active Members Gigantic devices (and others) such as the above are interesting but I am immediately reminded of "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" In other words, in some ways, we have expanded these from the sublime to the ridiculous. Until such as Hubble, we were constantly constrained by the atmosphere (as well as Earthly lights, etc.). I dare say an ordinary telescope in outer space might be more useful than the most powerful earthbound one. Best regards, RA1
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