Thread: Astronomical Telescopes - Latest Discoveries, Technologies and Developments

Here is an excellent survey of telescopes:

http://www.vectorsite.net/tascope.html


A History of the Telescope - by Greg Goebel

1. The Invention of The Telescope

2. Refining The Telescope

3. Giant Telescopes & New Technologies

4. Advanced Technology Telescopes

5. Radio Telescopes

6. Space Astronomy 1960:1989

7. Space Astronomy 1990:1999

8. Space Astronomy in The 21st Century

9. Cosmic Ray Telescopes

10. Gravitational Wave Observatories

Credit to Jason Chu, a graduate student instructor in astronomy at the University of Hawaii, for referring me to the article on History of Telescopes. The article itself was written by Greg Goebel, an amateur writer with no special qualifications on this subject other than his own interest. There is an extensive list of sources for the information he used in this well-written article. The article contains a great deal of accurate details and is a very useful reference for the many space-based telescopes launched over the years.

One telescope that was not mentioned in the article is the 10-meter submillimeter South Pole Telescope:
SPT (South Pole Telescope)

I recently went to a conference on Astronomical Instrumentation hosted by SPIE (Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers) in San Diego, California:
SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010.
Some of the topics presented were: Space telescope instrumentation, optical and infrared interferometry, observatory operations, adaptive optics, system engineering and project management.
In the exhibition hall that was open to anyone, there were synopsis of the presentations posted on bulletin boards. Although I am not a professional astronomer, I have some technical background in these areas and found these topics extremely interesting, particularly adaptive optics.
Also interesting was some of the booths in the exhibition hall that had displays on many of the major telescope projects that are in progress, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and the Pan-STARRS telescope. It was interesting to hear firsthand information on the progress of these projects. For example, the first off-axis mirror of the GMT has been polished while the remaining six mirrors are being prepared in various stages. The LSST is waiting for funding to complete the last stages of construction.
NASA, the European Space Agency, and JPL also had booths on various space-based projects. Although not a space-based platform, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) promises great discoveries about stellar and planetary formation, and active galactic centers. It is a 2.7-meter telescope mounted in a Boeing 747 flying at an altitude that will be above 99% of the atmospheric water vapor. ESA’s booths displayed the Herschel and Planck space telescopes.
It was really interesting to see the latest developments in telescope technology. For me it was a chance I couldn’t miss because the conference was right in the region where I live. Next time the conference will be in Amsterdam, I believe.

I recently went to a conference on Astronomical Instrumentation hosted by SPIE (Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers) in San Diego, California:
SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010.
Some of the topics presented were: Space telescope instrumentation, optical and infrared interferometry, observatory operations, adaptive optics, system engineering and project management.
In the exhibition hall that was open to anyone, there were synopsis of the presentations posted on bulletin boards. Although I am not a professional astronomer, I have some technical background in these areas and found these topics extremely interesting, particularly adaptive optics.
Also interesting was some of the booths in the exhibition hall that had displays on many of the major telescope projects that are in progress, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and the Pan-STARRS telescope. It was interesting to hear firsthand information on the progress of these projects. For example, the first off-axis mirror of the GMT has been polished while the remaining six mirrors are being prepared in various stages. The LSST is waiting for funding to complete the last stages of construction.
NASA, the European Space Agency, and JPL also had booths on various space-based projects. Although not a space-based platform, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) promises great discoveries about stellar and planetary formation, and active galactic centers. It is a 2.7-meter telescope mounted in a Boeing 747 flying at an altitude that will be above 99% of the atmospheric water vapor. ESA’s booths displayed the Herschel and Planck space telescopes.
It was really interesting to see the latest developments in telescope technology. For me it was a chance I couldn’t miss because the conference was right in the region where I live. Next time the conference will be in Amsterdam, I believe.

Check out this fantastic website called Around the World in 80 Telescopes:
Around the World in 80 Telescopes
Every major astronomical telescope in the world is visited in a live webcast session during a 24-hour period celebrating the International Year of Astronomy 2009, and you can watch the videos. Each video features a tour of a telescope given by an on-site astronomer and a discussion about the activities going on at the moment. The tour starts at Mauna Kea in Hawaii , goes to all the major telescopes on all the continents and in space as well.