Astronomers, engineers excited about 30-metre telescope project
Some ambitious Vancouver star-gazers hope their $1 billion project will provide a window into the deepest recesses of the universe.
The owners of Vancouver-based Amec plan to build the most powerful telescope in the world, perch it on top of a mountain in Chile or Hawaii, and begin the search for new worlds.
The thirty-metre telescope, known as the T-M-T, will require a support structure the size of a football field. But if built, it will change the way astronomers look into space.
The telescope is still in the design phase, and Amec's contribution is part of a U.S./Canadian effort that involves universities, research groups and engineers. Their goal is to begin construction in 2015, on a site to be chosen in 2007.
The telescope will be three times larger than any telescope ever made, and instead of being made from a traditional cylinder it will use a unique panel, similar to a flat screen television. The panel will have a 30-metre diameter, and will incorporate nearly eight hundred mirrors that will work together to collect light from the heavens, creating a giant eyeball to stare deeper into space than ever before.
At $1 billion, the project needs major financing if it is to become a reality.
Click here for more about this subject. -Ed.
The owners of Vancouver-based Amec plan to build the most powerful telescope in the world, perch it on top of a mountain in Chile or Hawaii, and begin the search for new worlds.
The thirty-metre telescope, known as the T-M-T, will require a support structure the size of a football field. But if built, it will change the way astronomers look into space.
The telescope is still in the design phase, and Amec's contribution is part of a U.S./Canadian effort that involves universities, research groups and engineers. Their goal is to begin construction in 2015, on a site to be chosen in 2007.
The telescope will be three times larger than any telescope ever made, and instead of being made from a traditional cylinder it will use a unique panel, similar to a flat screen television. The panel will have a 30-metre diameter, and will incorporate nearly eight hundred mirrors that will work together to collect light from the heavens, creating a giant eyeball to stare deeper into space than ever before.
At $1 billion, the project needs major financing if it is to become a reality.
Click here for more about this subject. -Ed.
