BBC: Ground telescopes to 'super-size' ( or micro-size? )

[nickdw]

"..you can't build a mirror bigger than about 8m across in one.." is another way of saying the centralized method of building, maintaining & observation with a single large telescope ( specifically reflector, schmidt-cassegrain, radio ) is fast approaching gone. In its place we'll have series of telescopes linked by common interest.

In a hypothetical case I'm writing now there are software programs one can write to get the gears moving on the telescopes to look at the sky at a particular time. If you have 10 reflector telescopes at 4m all trained on a particular sky location at the same time if all within 250 kilometers of each other linked via satellite Internet, broadband or other communications spec, how do you think the value compares to two stand-alone 8m telescopes? Technologists up bureaucrats every time in design reasoning.
~Nick ( [email protected] )

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4426535.stm


Ground telescopes to 'super-size'
By Paul Rincon
BBC News Science reporter, in Birmingham

A new generation of ground-based telescopes could be up to 10 times the size of existing instruments and have vision 40 times as sharp as the Hubble space telescope.

Astronomers have been hailing the plans, as a European project to build an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) enters a design testing phase.

An ELT is vital if the pace of astronomical breakthroughs is to continue, say experts.

The plans were outlined at the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham.

Concepts for ELTs include the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) being considered by the US and Canada; and the Euro50 and Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (Owl) proposals . . .