Construction on billion dollar telescope ten times more resolute than Hubble begins

[GK4Herd]

It’s slated to be complete in 2024. This isn’t the new space telescope James Webb that’s scheduled to be in use in 2021, but is a land based telescope that will mounted on a mountain in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The atmosphere is dry and clear most all year and there is new laser-based adaptive technology that will be able to measure atmospheric distortions and correct them for a clear view.

The telescope will be able to “sniff” the atmosphere of exoplanets in transit of their host star which presently the Kepler Space Telescope can’t do. How that works is that as light from the background star passes through the atmosphere of the planet, the elements within the atmosphere will absorb or reflect certain spectrums of the light which allows for the signature of certain elements to be identified. It will allow scientists to search for atmospheres with water or mixtures similar to earth’s atmosphere.

Cool stuff. It’s called the Giant Magellan Telescope and it was a steal for only a billion dollars...


https://www.chron.com/technology/bu...scope-that-will-take-pictures-10-13164331.php

 

[goherd73]

I visited the Atacama Desert a few years ago. It has so little rain that most homes had no roof.
When they do get any rain, they close schools so that kids can go out and play in it!

 

[HerdFan73]

The adaptive optics technology is pretty amazing.

 

[mufan08]

The telescope will be able to “sniff” the atmosphere
https://www.chron.com/technology/bu...scope-that-will-take-pictures-10-13164331.php

Futurama already did an episode of this

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/a6o404/futurama-smelloscope

 

[AmeriKenny]

It’s slated to be complete in 2024. This isn’t the new space telescope James Webb that’s scheduled to be in use in 2021, but is a land based telescope that will mounted on a mountain in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The atmosphere is dry and clear most all year and there is new laser-based adaptive technology that will be able to measure atmospheric distortions and correct them for a clear view.

The telescope will be able to “sniff” the atmosphere of exoplanets in transit of their host star which presently the Kepler Space Telescope can’t do. How that works is that as light from the background star passes through the atmosphere of the planet, the elements within the atmosphere will absorb or reflect certain spectrums of the light which allows for the signature of certain elements to be identified. It will allow scientists to search for atmospheres with water or mixtures similar to earth’s atmosphere.

Cool stuff. It’s called the Giant Magellan Telescope and it was a steal for only a billion dollars...


https://www.chron.com/technology/bu...scope-that-will-take-pictures-10-13164331.php

Awesome find Gary. I'm big into NASA and space exploration so I find this fascinating, especially since the Kepler mission has been compromised as of late.