|
Flamsteed Astronomy Society |
|
Today’s big reflecting telescopes — April 3, 2006 |
|
The Future … ? There are several projects for larger terrestrial telescopes. Here are just two examples proposed at 50 meters and 100 meters! The scale and cost of these proposals must make their construction very doubtful in the near future. It is more likely that we will see further development of adaptive optics, interferometry, and sensor technologies to get more out of existing instruments in the short to medium term. |
|
“ Euro 50” (Left) A proposed 50-meter fully-steerable telescope for the ORM, La Palma. This instrument would be 5 times bigger than a Keck with 25 times more light-gathering power. The mounting would dwarf a 747 airplane. |
|
“OWL” Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (Right) A proposed 100-meter giant. Similar to the SALT and HET instruments, it would be fixed in altitude angle. The primary mirror would be composed of 3048 hexagonal segments, each 1.6 m. Imagine the light-collecting power of almost 6000 Yerkes refractors held together in a bunch with a huge rubber band! |
|
Book List |
|
page 4 of 4 |
|
Henry C. King |
The History of the Telescope Dover Publications reprinted 2003. Original edition Charles Griffin & Co. 1955. |
|
Peter L. Manly |
Unusual Telescopes Cambridge University Press 1991; reprinted in paperback 1995. |
|
Isaac Asimov |
Eyes on the Universe Andre Deutsch 1976 |
|
John & Mary Gribbin |
How Far is Up? Measuring the size of the Universe Icon Books 2003. Republished as “The Men who Measured the Universe” paperback |
|
Richard Panek |
Seeing and Believing. The story of the telescope or how we found the Universe Viking 1998 |
|
Michael Hoskin (Ed) |
Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy Cambridge University Press 1997. Reprinted 2000 |
|
Fred Watson |
Stargazer — the Life and Times of the Telescope Allen & Unwin 2004 |
|
Richard Learner |
Astronomy through the Telescope — The 500-year story of the instruments, their inventors, and their discoveries. Evans Brothers. 1982 |