Presented by Prof Warrick Couch, Director of the Australian Astronomical Observatory.
Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) represent the next quantum leap forward in optical/infrared telescope design and light-gathering capability. Their enormous primary mirrors, which will be 25-40 meters in diameter, will collect 10-100 times as much light as the world’s largest existing telescopes, and will produce images more than an order of magnitude sharper than those of the Hubble Space Telescope. They will be able to see the first stars forming in the universe billions of years ago and search out Earth-like planets around nearby stars for signs of life. This talk will describe the impressive progress that been made in designing and building such giant telescopes. A particular focus will be the 25m Giant Magellan Telescope Project – one which Australia is deeply involved in both technically and scientifically and has just commenced its construction phase.
All welcome.