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telescopes

aliens

Help Save the Arecibo Observatory: ET Is Counting on You

The Arecibo Observatory has been plagued with budget problems for years now, but it appears that the future of the world's largest radio telescope is looking bleaker than ever with cuts looming that could shut down the project for good. That grim reality has prompted the guys behind SETI@home to call out to the public in a last ditch attempt to secure donations and support for the Senate bill and House resolution to continue funding. With our luck, E.T. will try and make contact the day the observatory goes offline, so hit the following link and show your support. [Seti@home]

Moon Colonization

NASA to Build Giant Telescopes Made of Moon...on the Moon?

NASA researchers claim they've developed a way to create a concrete-like substance, necessary for the production of space telescopes, out of Moon dust. The compound mixes the aforementioned Moon dust with carbon tubes and epoxy to create a dish, which is then coated in aluminum. The researchers have built a 30cm dish using this technique with a moon dust subsitute, but they claim they can create ones between 20-50 meters that would fill entire craters. This claim, however, has its share of detractors. More »

steampunk

Massive Steampunk-y Telectroscope Lets You See From New York to London

The Telectroscope is more than a giant telescope—looking through its lens in NYC, you can see all the way to London—and vice versa. These steampunk creations were unveiled today in the two cities to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge. Artist Paul St George's Victorian-style gold and wood trim make the behemoth-size scopes impressive to look at, but the most amazing part is how he claims they work.
More »

space

Fresnel Telescope Will Spot M-Class Planets 30 Light Years Away

Scientists might be giving up on the notion of sending ridiculously large pieces of glass into space. Using a Fresnel-zone lens instead, astronomers at Observatoire Midi Pyrenees in France propose to take extremely high-contrast images at vast distances without a large lens or mirror. A 30-meter Fresnel telescope will provide visual confirmation of Earth-like planets up to 30 light years away. Since it can also observe a wide spectrum range including UV and IR, it can do follow-up detection of life signs, too. The main advantage of the Fresnel telescope is, of course, the fact that it's a perforated sheet of roll-up metal instead of heavy, breakable glass. But there are some major reasons it's not super easy to just whip up one of these telescopes in the machine shop: More »

telescopes

Celestron SkyScout Scope Makes You a True Space Cadet

Match Made in the Heavens: You saw the Celestron SkyScout a while ago, and now here's a scope on which to mount it. See galaxies with the SkyScout Scope's high-power eyepiece, or get your bearings with its included its low-power counterpart. But It'll Cost Ya: To use this with the excellent $400 Celestron SkyScout spotter, you have to buy one of those, too. More »