Image credit: Giant Magellan Telescope — GMTO Corporation.

The Future Of Astronomy: The Giant (25 Meter!) Magellan Telescope

The first of the next generation of telescopes is already under construction. Here’s the audacious new science we’re in for!

“We find them smaller and fainter, in constantly increasing numbers, and we know that we are reaching into space, farther and farther, until, with the faintest nebulae that can be detected with the greatest telescopes, we arrive at the frontier of the known universe.” -Edwin Hubble

Throughout history, there have been four things that have determined just how much information we can glean about the Universe through astronomy:

1. The size of your telescope, which determines both how much light you can gather in a given amount of time and also your resolution.
2. The quality of your optical systems and cameras/CCDs, which allow you to maximize the amount of light that becomes usable data.
3. The “seeing” through the telescope, which can be distorted by the atmosphere but minimized by high altitudes, still air, cloudless nights and adaptive optics technology.
4. And your techniques of data analysis, which can ideally make the most of every single photon of light that comes through.