World's Largest Telescope Begins Production

JohnnyNapalm writes "The Aggie Daily News is reporting today that the first mirrors have been cast for the world's largest telescope. The result of cooperation from some of the foremost institutions in education and science in the nation, the Giant Magellan Telescope stands to operate at a resolution 10 times larger than the Hubble. The project, set to be constructed in Chile, is slated for completion in 2016."

Comments

arn't orbiting telescopes better?

[Qnaal]

it seems a shame to spend all this money on a grounded telescope, when it will heve to point through our atmosphere. i didn't get a chance to completely RTFA, but don't orbiting telescopes get much less interference? or am i missing something?

Re:Hubble Telescope

[tloh]

Am I alone in feeling that we haven't even used hubble to the fullest extent of its abilities? Not sure why this is a priority right now.

Have you bothered to reconcile what you feel with what you know? For example, do you know how easy or hard it is to book Hubble for an observation run? Especially when it most matters? Heavenly phenomenons don't exactly conduct themselves by a schedule tailored to you or anyone elses' convenience. You don't really know when a spactacular supernova or comet collision would afford the opportunity of a lifetime to make unique discoveries.

Your lukewarm conviction of this as a priority seems to imply you feel you should have a say in how the resources going into this project should be allocated. I have no doubt that you might be a dutiful American tax payer and the GMT partner institutions, more likely than not, utilize public funding. But it should be obvious to anyone familiar with the current administration's stance on global warming that letting politics steer science is an embarassing mistake we should not allow to happen.