You are not logged in.
The current # of mirrors on ELT is 800. Only adding 30 more brings the diameter from 39.3 to 40 meters.
You know there’s a considerable psychological effect of that first digit, reason why retailers like pricing their products at $39.95 rather than $40. Having the telescope size at 40 meters puts its size in good stead in relation to the 100 meter, cancelled, OWL telescope.
Large ground, segmented mirror telescope costs scale by collecting area, i.e., by square of aperture diameter. Increasing the size by a factor of (40/39.3)^2 would add an additional 3% to the $1.5 billion dollar cost, or $50 million. I’m sure all astronomy enthusiasts world-wide would be willing to add that extra $50 million to bring its size up to 40 meters.
50% mark reached!| ELT updates.
https://youtu.be/oC2nWe1wbFk
Bob Clark
Old Space rule of acquisition (with a nod to Star Trek - the Next Generation):
“Anything worth doing is worth doing for a billion dollars.”
Offline
This sort of technology is far enough from what I know, that I cannot comment on it. But I hated to see Bob post something interesting and get no replies!
GW
GW Johnson
McGregor, Texas
"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
Offline
I think they planned to have ELT by 2028, I believe OWL was kind of possible but also maybe 'impossible' with the tech of that time, I think there was discussion in old newmars topics like Planned Earthly Telescope or 'Space Scopes from any nation' topic, Owl or Overwhelmingly Large Telescope it was intended to have a single aperture of 100 meters or 328.08 feet in diameter but I believe it was more of a fringe scifi idea to have something so large and maybe not doable. They say ELT will still be revolutionary and be able to directly study atmospheres of extrasolar planets.
Offline
Liquid giant lenses and Liquid mirrors
if giant lenses and mirrors – the high-quality optical components needed for future large-aperture space telescopes – can be created from liquids in space.
https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/ … e-project/
The NASA Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) Project
Offline
I've been following the Giant Magellan Telescope from it's inception; and I believe that 4 of the total of 7 mirrors have been polished and figured. I checked late last year and the physical observatory is under construction, moving along very well. This will be usable even with fewer mirrors than the total of 7. We should see this come online around 2028-2029.
After doing a Google search about the status, all mirrors have been cast and 4 are finished. There will be an extra mirror cast and finished as a replacement for mirrors on a 2 year time interval for cleaning and recoating of the individual mirrors.
The ELT may actually beat the GMT into service because of the segmented mirrors and lighter mount requirements.
Last edited by Oldfart1939 (2024-05-05 23:02:20)
Offline