03-01-2011, 06:40 PM
Some of you may not know this, but although the TMT is passing all the hurdles so far it has a competitor - the E-ELT.
http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html
Many people I know within the astronomical community believe that only one of these two telescopes will be built simply due to the current economic situation. The E-ELT will be in Chile and the TMT could have been built there, and still might, but there's a strong argument that US money should be spent in the US rather than South America.
Tonight, talking to a group of people from around the world, it seems to be clear that people in Chile welcome all the economic benefits major observatories bring them while here there's a small but very loud group of people who will do what they can to deny that opportunity for the island.
It's certainly an interesting topic and I could write a lot more about it, but *if* only one large telescope gets funding then I suspect Chile and the E-ELT is the favourite. Not because it's a better site, it isn't, just because a small minority will find ways to kill the project through any means they can find.
Just trying to get things back on topic...
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/
http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html
Many people I know within the astronomical community believe that only one of these two telescopes will be built simply due to the current economic situation. The E-ELT will be in Chile and the TMT could have been built there, and still might, but there's a strong argument that US money should be spent in the US rather than South America.
Tonight, talking to a group of people from around the world, it seems to be clear that people in Chile welcome all the economic benefits major observatories bring them while here there's a small but very loud group of people who will do what they can to deny that opportunity for the island.
It's certainly an interesting topic and I could write a lot more about it, but *if* only one large telescope gets funding then I suspect Chile and the E-ELT is the favourite. Not because it's a better site, it isn't, just because a small minority will find ways to kill the project through any means they can find.
Just trying to get things back on topic...
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/