WHAT'S NEW SINCE PUBLICATION:
Telescopes
- The Compton Gamma
Ray Observatory was intentionally sent crashing into the Pacific Ocean
on June 4, 2000. This was done to insure that no injuries
occurred on Earth due to an uncontrolled reentry if another gyro were to
fail. CGRO was launched on April 5, 1991 and made a large number of
very important observations and discoveries, including studies of gamma-ray
bursters. The loss of CGRO leaves astronomers without a major gamma
ray observatory until the launch of the Gamma-ray
Large Area Space Telescope, scheduled in 2005.
- Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI) has been used to obtain a very high-resolution
radio image of a supernova
remnant in M82.
- The X-Ray Multi-Mirror satellite
(XMM) was successfully launched on December 10, 1999 from Kourou, French
Guiana. This powerful new x-ray telescope is operated by the European
Space Agency (ESA).
- The first two of four telescopes
that will comprise the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory have received first light.
Unit Telescope 1 (UT1) has a diameter of 8 m. When all four telescopes
are operational around 2001, the effective diameter of the entire system will be
equivalent to a single 16 m mirror. The VLT represents one in a class of new, 8-m
class ground-based telescopes.
- The Gemini North Telescope (on Mauna Kea in
Hawaii) was dedicated on June 25-26 and has already produced many spectacular images.
Using its active optics, Gemini North has been able to obtain resolutions of better
than 90 milli-arcseconds (FWHM) from the ground. Gemini South is located on Cerro
Pachon in Chile and will be dedicated in about two years. Both telescopes have
diameters of 8.1 m.
- The Subaru Telescope (8.2 m)
optical-infrared telescope is also operating on Mauna Kea. It received first light in early 1999 and is expected to go
into routine open-use operation in December, 2000.
- Chandra was launched from
the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. Chandra represents one in the series of Great Observatories (which
includes the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory).
Chandra [formerly the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics
Facility (AXAF)] was named in honor of Nobel Laureate, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
- The Next-Generation Space Telescope is currently in the
planning stage. This telescope, which is to replace the Hubble Space Telescope in
approximately the year 2007, will have an 8-m mirror, and might be placed at the L2
Lagrangian point.
- The Sloan Digital Sky Survey's 2.5 m telescope has
begun its mission. The telescope is located in the Sacramento Mountains at New
Mexico's Apache Point Observatory. The survey will map 1/4 of the entire sky,
including the absolute magnitudes and positions of 100 million objects.
- The Hobby-Eberly Telescope at
McDonald Observatory (in west Texas) was dedicated on October 8, 1997.
The primary mirror is composed of 91 segments with each surface smoother than 1/15 wave.
The collecting area of the $13.5M telescope is 77.6 m2 , with an
effective circular diameter of 9.2 m. The telescope's focal length is 13.08 m.
- The Hubble Space Telescope was refurbished for the second time in February 1997
by the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The crew replaced two aging instruments, the
Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph and the Faint Object Spectrograph with two new ones.
The new instruments are the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS)
and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The crew also replaces one of the
Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). After the installation, the scientists at the Space Telescope Science Institute have discovered
some problems with the cooling system of NICMOS, making it difficult to focus a part of
the camera. The cooling problem may also shorten the life of the instrument somewhat.
- The second Keck 10-m Telescope is now
operational. The development of large-aperture telescopes and adaptive optics is
resulting in great strides for ground-based observing.
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Last modified September 12, 2005.