Unveiling the Cosmos: Exciting New Telescopes on the Horizon

 

          Step into a world where the wonders of the universe are about to be unveiled like never before, with ground breaking advancements in technology. A new generation of telescopes is on the horizon, poised to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos. From space based observations to monumental ground based instruments , these upcoming telescopes promise to uncover cosmic mysteries and propel us into uncharted realms of discovery. Join us on an extra ordinary journey as we explore the future of astronomy and catch a glimpse of the awe-inspiring telescopes. That will shape our cosmic exploration, Welcome to a new era of stargazing...! 

 

The EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPE:

 

Expected First Light: 2028

 

                ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, or ELT for short, is a revolutionary ground-based telescope that will have a 39-metre main mirror and will be the largest visible and infrared light telescope in the world: the world’s biggest eye on the sky. It will be the successor to ESO’s Very Large Telescope. An extraordinary telescope requires an exceptional site. ELT is being built on top of Cerro Armazones in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile.

 

               The ELT will have a five mirror-design that will allow it to look into our universe in a way no other telescope has seen. The telescope will also feature sophisticated adaptive optics to nullify the effect of the atmosphere. It will also have 8 laser guide star units.

 

                To analyse the data, ELT houses 6 spectacular instruments. Four will be operational right after the completion of the construction and 2 will be added later.

                The observatory's design will gather 100 million times more light than the human eye, equivalent to about 10 times more light than the largest optical telescopes existing as of 2023, and will correct for atmospheric distortion. It has around 250 times the light gathering area of the Hubble Space Telescope and, according to the ELT's specifications, would provide images 16 times sharper than those from Hubble.

 

The Giant Magellan Telescope:

 

Expected First Light: 2029

 

                      GIANT MEGALLAN TELESCOPE, or the GMT, is a ground-based telescope under construction. Being built as a part of the US extremely large telescope program, it will feature seven 8.4 meter diameter primary segments  that will observe optical and near infrared (320- 25,000 nm) light, with the resolving power of a 24.5m(80.4 ft) primary mirror and collecting are equivalent to a 22.0m(72.2 ft) one, which is about 368 square meters.

                    The location of the telescope is Las Campanas Observatory which is also the site of the Magellan Telescopes, some 115 km north-northeast of La Sarena, Chile and 180 km south of Copiapó, Chile, at an altitude of 2,516 m.

                   The telescope will feature Adaptive Optics on the secondary mirror. It has several types of adaptive optics.

                   The planned first light instruments are four instruments and one facility Fiber positioning system. Here is a list of the instruments:   

1.GMT -  Consortium Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF)- An optical band echelle spectrograph.

2.GMT Multi- Object  Astronomical and Cosmological Spectrograph(GMACS)- A visible multi-object spectrograph.

3.GMT Integral - Field Spectrograph (GMTIFS) - A near -IR IFU  and AO imager.

4.GMT Near -IR Spectrograph (GMTNIRS) - A near - IR Spectrograph.

5.The Many instruments Fiber Systems (MANIFEST) - A facility Fiber system.

Nancy Grace Roman Telescope:

Launch Time: May 2027

               Like the James Webb Space Telescope, the Roman Space Telescope, named after the first female executive at NASA, will observe mainly infrared radiation. But while the JWST focuses on detail, Roman is going for the big picture. The telescope will have a 2.4 m mirror, the same as the Hubble, but with a view 100 times greater.

            The combination of Roman’s fine resolution and enormous images has never been possible on a space-based telescope before and will make the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope an indispensable tool in the future.

 

Thirty Meter Telescope:

Expected First Light: July 2027

 

                The Thirty Meter Telescope is one of a new class of extremely large telescopes that will allow us to see deeper into space and observe cosmic objects with unprecedented sensitivity and detail. Its 30m diameter prime-mirror will enable observations from ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths with up

to 80 times the sensitivity of today's largest telescopes.

 

                State-of-the-art adaptive optics systems will compensate for the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere, and deliver images at infrared wavelengths that are more than 12 times sharper than those of the famed Hubble Space Telescope, and four times sharper than JWST.

 

                India is a Founder-Member country for this project at about 10% level. India’s in-kind contributions towards the project include Hardware (Segment Support Assemblies, Actuators, Edge Sensors, Segment Polishing and Segment Coating), Instrumentation (First Light Instruments) and Software (Observatory Software and Telescope Control Systems).

           In the era of upcoming telescopes, a new chapter in cosmic exploration begins. With advanced observatories, we'll uncover unprecedented insights, captivating images, and extraordinary discoveries. Let us embrace the mysteries that await, for the stars hold secrets yet to be revealed

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