NSF board approves funding for just one of two proposed giant telescopes

U.S. astronomers will have to make do with one giant ground-based telescope rather than the desired two, the National Science Board (NSB) announced yesterday. Meeting last week, the panel of scientists that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF) capped the budget of the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP) at $1.6 billion, enough for a substantial share in one 30-meter class telescope. But US-ELTP represents the interests of two such projects—the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) in Chile and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii—which are building components but not fully funded. The board has given NSF until May to come up with a process to choose the lucky winner . “I think this is fantastic news for U.S. astronomy,” says astrophysicist Michael Turner of the University of Chicago. “NSF is moving forward, and with a realistic plan.” But the decision will be a bitter pill for the two telescope projects, which must now compete to win NSF funding. Science has approached both teams for comment. Such giant telescopes are the next logical step for front-rank astronomy. They will allow researchers to zoom in on habitable extrasolar planets, find the stellar forges creating chemical elements, track the explosions of merging neutron stars, and study the formation of the first stars and galaxies. Today’s top telescopes have mirrors 8 to 10 meters across, but their segmented mirror technology can be used to bui...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news