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Cosmic Vision

A new generation of giant telescopes will carry the eye to the edge of the universe.

/2009/07/telescopes/img/01-binocular-telescope-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-01.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223717 /2009/07/telescopes/img/02-mirrors-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-02.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223721 /2009/07/telescopes/img/03-hyperwall-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-03.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally Window on the Universe Spread across 128 monitors at NASA's Advanced Supercomputing facility in California, colorized red and green nebulae span a vast region of our galaxy. Called hyperwall-2, the system helps researchers visualize huge amounts of data from the latest telescopes.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223716 /2009/07/telescopes/img/04-galileo-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-04.jpg Photograph by Scala/Art Resource Beginnings Four hundred years ago Galileo gave birth to modern astronomy with the humblest of instruments, now preserved at a history of science museum in Florence, Italy. A one-and-a-half-inch lens displayed in an ornate frame (at bottom) was ground in 1609. Others followed. Fitted into simple wooden tubes just a few feet long, Galileo's lenses magnified the heavens, bringing Earth's moon, sunspots, and nearby planets into focus.]]> /2009/07/telescopes/img/05-glass-honeycomb-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-05.jpg Photograph by Mark Thiessen Mirror Works Ten-pound glass chunks are loaded into a honeycombed mold at the University of Arizona. Hollow chambers reduce mass and help produce a lightweight mirror that adjusts more quickly to ambient temperature changes.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223698 /2009/07/telescopes/img/06-concave-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-06.jpg Photograph by Mark Thiessen Mirror Works As the glass melts, the mold spins to create a concave surface that gathers distant light and refocuses it inside a telescope.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223697 /2009/07/telescopes/img/07-technician-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-07.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally Detail Man Beneath the University of Arizona football stadium, a technician pores over the surface of the 8.4-meter Large Synoptic Survey Telescope mirror, looking for major flaws. Over a period of months the glass will be polished to within one millionth of an inch of the precise concave shape required. A thin coating of aluminum will create the reflective surface.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223715 /2009/07/telescopes/img/08-delicate-sensor-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-08.jpg Photograph by Mark Thiessen http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223720 /2009/07/telescopes/img/09-massive-trucks-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-09.jpg Photograph by Pascal Martinez, ESO Wide Receivers Massive trucks will drive 66 12- and 7-meter antennas into the Chilean desert to form a single huge radio telescope spanning miles.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223712 /2009/07/telescopes/img/10-atacama-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-10.jpg Photograph by Herbert Zodet, ESO Wide Receivers The Atacama array, seen here in a rendering, will collect data from within the clouds of dust and gas that gave rise to stars, planets, and galaxies. "It will enable us finally to penetrate cold, dark regions of the universe," says project scientist Richard Hills.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223713 /2009/07/telescopes/img/11-optics-laser-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-11.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally Sharper Sight The 5.1-meter Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain, California, has done cutting-edge science for 60 years, making key discoveries about galaxies and quasars. An adaptive optics laser that shoots 56 miles up now lets Hale produce even sharper and more detailed views.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223718 /2009/07/telescopes/img/12-laser-beam-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-12.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223722 /2009/07/telescopes/img/13-mauna-kea-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-13.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally Cloud Free Crowded in prime territory, the Subaru, Keck I and II, and NASA Infrared telescopes (left to right) sit atop Hawaii's 13,796-foot Mauna Kea. Set above 40 percent of the atmosphere, they offer one of Earth's clearest views into space.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223714 /2009/07/telescopes/img/14-crab-nebula-714.jpg /2009/07/telescopes/img/telescopes-60-14.jpg Photograph by Joe McNally Triple Vision Portraits of the Crab Nebula captured in visible, infrared, and x-ray wavelengths (left to right) are projected on screens in Monument Valley, Utah, in a long exposure beneath a star-filled sky. Telescopes of the next decade will reveal our universe in ways never known before.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1223719