Credit: Giant Magellan Telescope - Carnegie Observatories
ANOTHER MAJOR GOAL for the GMT is the detection of the end of the 'dark ages', when the first light from stars and quasars reionised the universe, changing atoms into excited or reactive states. Then there's the question of dark energy.
"The GMT will allow us to look further than we have ever been able to before. This will allow us to track dark energy further back into time, and give us the opportunity to use methods and techniques that might not otherwise be practical in the nearby universe," says astrophysicist Brian Schmidt from the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
The ANU is part of the consortium jumping on board to run the GMT and the rest of Australian astronomy is keen to follow. Australia plans to buy 10 per cent of the telescope, which would guarantee the Australian astronomy community 36.5 viewing nights each year.
"It would be the cherry on top of Australia's current science capacity," says Colless.
Heather Catchpole is a Sydney-based science writer and regular contributor to Cosmos.
Very Interesting but
Is there any reason I'm not authorised to view the third page?
ABOVE POST
you spell authorized with an "s"...im surprised you were able to turn your computer on..
Good grief... This site is
Good grief... This site is Australian. Australia uses British spelling, which spells authorise and most other 'ise/ize' words with an 's' not a 'z'. Read around this site and you might learn a little more about life outside of the US.
To Very interesting but...
It might be because you can spell? LOL Seriously though, this is an amazing 'scope.