EPISODE · Jun 30, 2019 · 47 MIN
39: Ridiculously Large Telescopes
from syzygy · host Chris Stewart
Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:The Giant Magellan TelescopeA good video about the GMT from National GeographicXKCD on telescope namesThe plain old Magellan TelescopeSALT, the South African Large TelescopeThe Very Large TelescopeThe European Extremely Large TelescopeThe Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (now cancelled)The Thirty Metre TelescopeMaking Magellan Mirrors (video)Description of the mirror process (video)The GMT Science BookActive Optics and Adaptive Optics
What this episode covers
Telescopes — can they every be big enough? With news of serious progress on the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile, Emily and Chris natter about Astronomy's truly big optical scopes. First there were a slew of Large Telescopes. Then came the VLT, the Very Large Telescope. That wasn't large enough, so we got the Extremely Large Telescope. The Overwhelmingly Large Telescope was planned for a while, but then got cancelled, which sounds like it might have been a good thing. The technology is awesome, the science is astounding — the next decade is going to be a great one for optical astronomy.
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39: Ridiculously Large Telescopes
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