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6.2 Telescopes today

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Learning objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Recognize the largest visible-light and infrared telescopes in operation today
  • Discuss the factors relevant to choosing an appropriate telescope site
  • Define the technique of adaptive optics and describe the effects of the atmosphere on astronomical observations

Since Newton’s time, when the sizes of the mirrors in telescopes were measured in inches, reflecting telescopes have grown ever larger. In 1948, US astronomers built a telescope with a 5-meter (200-inch) diameter mirror on Palomar Mountain in Southern California. It remained the largest visible-light telescope in the world for several decades. The giants of today, however, have primary mirrors (the largest mirrors in the telescope) that are 8- to 10-meters in diameter, and larger ones are being built ( [link] ).

Large telescope mirror.

Photograph of one of the 8-meter concave primary mirrors of the European Space Agency’s Very Large Telescope array in Chile.
This image shows one of the primary mirrors of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, named Yepun, just after it was recoated with aluminum. The mirror is a little over 8 meters in diameter. (credit: ESO/G. Huedepohl)

Modern visible-light and infrared telescopes

The decades starting in 1990 saw telescope building around the globe grow at an unprecedented rate. (See [link] , which also includes websites for each telescope in case you want to visit or learn more about them.) Technological advancements had finally made it possible to build telescopes significantly larger than the 5-meter telescope at Palomar at a reasonable cost. New technologies have also been designed to work well in the infrared, and not just visible, wavelengths.

Large Single-Dish Visible-Light and Infrared Telescopes
Aperture (m) Telescope Name Location Status Website
39 European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) Cerro Armazonas, Chile First light 2025 (estimated) www.eso.org/sci/facilities/eelt
30 Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) Mauna Kea, HI First light 2025 (estimated) www.tmt.org
24.5 Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Las Campanas Observatory, Chile First light 2025 (estimated) www.gmto.org
11.1 × 9.9 Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) Sutherland, South Africa 2005 www.salt.ac.za
10.4 Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) La Palma, Canary Islands First light 2007 http://www.gtc.iac.es
10.0 Keck I and II (two telescopes) Mauna Kea, HI Completed 1993–96 www.keckobservatory.org
9.1 Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET) Mount Locke, TX Completed 1997 www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/het
8.4 Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) (two telescopes) Mount Graham, AZ First light 2004 www.lbto.org
8.4 Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) The Cerro Pachón, Chile First light 2021 www.lsst.org
8.3 Subaru Telescope Mauna Kea, HI First light 1998 www.naoj.org
8.2 Very Large Telescope (VLT) Cerro Paranal, Chile All four telescopes completed 2000 www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal
8.1 Gemini North and Gemini South Mauna Kea, HI (North) and Cerro Pachón, Chile (South) First light 1999 (North), First light 2000 (South) www.gemini.edu
6.5 Magellan Telescopes (two telescopes: Baade and Landon Clay) Las Campanas, Chile First light 2000 and 2002 obs.carnegiescience.edu/Magellan
6.5 Multi-Mirror Telescope (MMT) Mount Hopkins, AZ Completed 1979 www.mmto.org
6.0 Big Telescope Altazimuth (BTA-6) Mount Pastukhov, Russia Completed 1976 w0.sao.ru/Doc-en/Telescopes/bta/descrip.html
5.1 Hale Telescope Mount Palomar, CA Completed 1948 www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/about/telescopes/hale.html

Questions & Answers

Three charges q_{1}=+3\mu C, q_{2}=+6\mu C and q_{3}=+8\mu C are located at (2,0)m (0,0)m and (0,3) coordinates respectively. Find the magnitude and direction acted upon q_{2} by the two other charges.Draw the correct graphical illustration of the problem above showing the direction of all forces.
Kate Reply
To solve this problem, we need to first find the net force acting on charge q_{2}. The magnitude of the force exerted by q_{1} on q_{2} is given by F=\frac{kq_{1}q_{2}}{r^{2}} where k is the Coulomb constant, q_{1} and q_{2} are the charges of the particles, and r is the distance between them.
Muhammed
What is the direction and net electric force on q_{1}= 5µC located at (0,4)r due to charges q_{2}=7mu located at (0,0)m and q_{3}=3\mu C located at (4,0)m?
Kate Reply
what is the change in momentum of a body?
Eunice Reply
what is a capacitor?
Raymond Reply
Capacitor is a separation of opposite charges using an insulator of very small dimension between them. Capacitor is used for allowing an AC (alternating current) to pass while a DC (direct current) is blocked.
Gautam
A motor travelling at 72km/m on sighting a stop sign applying the breaks such that under constant deaccelerate in the meters of 50 metres what is the magnitude of the accelerate
Maria Reply
please solve
Sharon
8m/s²
Aishat
What is Thermodynamics
Muordit
velocity can be 72 km/h in question. 72 km/h=20 m/s, v^2=2.a.x , 20^2=2.a.50, a=4 m/s^2.
Mehmet
A boat travels due east at a speed of 40meter per seconds across a river flowing due south at 30meter per seconds. what is the resultant speed of the boat
Saheed Reply
50 m/s due south east
Someone
which has a higher temperature, 1cup of boiling water or 1teapot of boiling water which can transfer more heat 1cup of boiling water or 1 teapot of boiling water explain your . answer
Ramon Reply
I believe temperature being an intensive property does not change for any amount of boiling water whereas heat being an extensive property changes with amount/size of the system.
Someone
Scratch that
Someone
temperature for any amount of water to boil at ntp is 100⁰C (it is a state function and and intensive property) and it depends both will give same amount of heat because the surface available for heat transfer is greater in case of the kettle as well as the heat stored in it but if you talk.....
Someone
about the amount of heat stored in the system then in that case since the mass of water in the kettle is greater so more energy is required to raise the temperature b/c more molecules of water are present in the kettle
Someone
definitely of physics
Haryormhidey Reply
how many start and codon
Esrael Reply
what is field
Felix Reply
physics, biology and chemistry this is my Field
ALIYU
field is a region of space under the influence of some physical properties
Collete
what is ogarnic chemistry
WISDOM Reply
determine the slope giving that 3y+ 2x-14=0
WISDOM
Another formula for Acceleration
Belty Reply
a=v/t. a=f/m a
IHUMA
innocent
Adah
pratica A on solution of hydro chloric acid,B is a solution containing 0.5000 mole ofsodium chlorid per dm³,put A in the burret and titrate 20.00 or 25.00cm³ portion of B using melting orange as the indicator. record the deside of your burret tabulate the burret reading and calculate the average volume of acid used?
Nassze Reply
how do lnternal energy measures
Esrael
Two bodies attract each other electrically. Do they both have to be charged? Answer the same question if the bodies repel one another.
JALLAH Reply
No. According to Isac Newtons law. this two bodies maybe you and the wall beside you. Attracting depends on the mass och each body and distance between them.
Dlovan
Are you really asking if two bodies have to be charged to be influenced by Coulombs Law?
Robert
like charges repel while unlike charges atttact
Raymond
What is specific heat capacity
Destiny Reply
Specific heat capacity is a measure of the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius (or Kelvin). It is measured in Joules per kilogram per degree Celsius (J/kg°C).
AI-Robot
specific heat capacity is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius or kelvin
ROKEEB
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Source:  OpenStax, Astronomy. OpenStax CNX. Apr 12, 2017 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11992/1.13
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