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11/04/2005
Ground-based telescopes have big future
According to recent studies by international teams of astronomers and leading astronomical organisations, the next generation of ground based optical telescopes could be 50-100 metres (165-330 ft) in diameter.
A 100m mirror has a collecting area up to 100 times greater than existing instruments, with the ability to see objects at up to 40 times the spatial resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.
On Friday April 8, Dr Isobel Hook of Oxford University told the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham about the compelling scientific case for 'Extremely Large Telescopes' (ELTs), developed at a series of meetings over the past four years. The results of this evaluation process, which involved more than 100 astronomers, have recently been published, coinciding with the start of the European Extremely Large Telescope Design Study.
A team of over 100 European astronomers has recently produced a brochure summarising the science that could be done, said Dr Hook. This work is the result of a series of meetings held in Europe over the last four years, sponsored by the EC network OPTICON.
The report states: "The vast improvement in sensitivity and precision allowed by the next step in technological capabilities, from today's 6-10 m telescopes to the new generation of 50-100 m telescopes with integrated adaptive optics capability, will be the largest such enhancement in the history of telescopic astronomy. It is likely that the major scientific impact of these new telescopes will be discoveries we cannot predict, so that their scientific legacy will also vastly exceed even that rich return which we can predict today.”
Astronomers believe that with an ELT it will not only be possible to find planets orbiting other stars, but also to identify and study habitable Earth-like planets by identifying the presence of liquid water, oxygen and methane.
An ELT would be able to provide key insights into the nature of black holes, galaxy formation, the mysterious dark matter pervading the universe and the even more mysterious dark energy that is pushing the universe apart.
An ELT will also be sensitive enough to detect the first galaxies that were born only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, as well as very early supernova explosions, whose light has travelled for over 10 billion years to reach us.
Dr Hook said that new astronomical instruments have always surprised by revealing the unexpected.
With correction for atmospheric effects ELTs can provide extremely sharp images and initial studies suggest that a 50-100m segmented telescope could be built within 10-15 years for a cost of around one billion Euros.
A major design study is now starting in Europe, aimed at developing the technology needed to build Extremely Large Telescopes.
(GB/SP)
A 100m mirror has a collecting area up to 100 times greater than existing instruments, with the ability to see objects at up to 40 times the spatial resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.
On Friday April 8, Dr Isobel Hook of Oxford University told the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham about the compelling scientific case for 'Extremely Large Telescopes' (ELTs), developed at a series of meetings over the past four years. The results of this evaluation process, which involved more than 100 astronomers, have recently been published, coinciding with the start of the European Extremely Large Telescope Design Study.
A team of over 100 European astronomers has recently produced a brochure summarising the science that could be done, said Dr Hook. This work is the result of a series of meetings held in Europe over the last four years, sponsored by the EC network OPTICON.
The report states: "The vast improvement in sensitivity and precision allowed by the next step in technological capabilities, from today's 6-10 m telescopes to the new generation of 50-100 m telescopes with integrated adaptive optics capability, will be the largest such enhancement in the history of telescopic astronomy. It is likely that the major scientific impact of these new telescopes will be discoveries we cannot predict, so that their scientific legacy will also vastly exceed even that rich return which we can predict today.”
Astronomers believe that with an ELT it will not only be possible to find planets orbiting other stars, but also to identify and study habitable Earth-like planets by identifying the presence of liquid water, oxygen and methane.
An ELT would be able to provide key insights into the nature of black holes, galaxy formation, the mysterious dark matter pervading the universe and the even more mysterious dark energy that is pushing the universe apart.
An ELT will also be sensitive enough to detect the first galaxies that were born only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, as well as very early supernova explosions, whose light has travelled for over 10 billion years to reach us.
Dr Hook said that new astronomical instruments have always surprised by revealing the unexpected.
With correction for atmospheric effects ELTs can provide extremely sharp images and initial studies suggest that a 50-100m segmented telescope could be built within 10-15 years for a cost of around one billion Euros.
A major design study is now starting in Europe, aimed at developing the technology needed to build Extremely Large Telescopes.
(GB/SP)
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