European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Such a Al Nino change the Earth s rotation Rale they can Monitor Many planetary Phenomena. Including the orientation of the Earth s Axis in space Polar motion inc Wabble Aboul the Axi Sand variations in the Earth s velocity gravitational Field internal Structure and mass Center. The most powerful of Iho three techniques is Inlet Ler Melry which 19 Tho lesson Sibilly of Iho  Good clip Survey. A network of radio telescopes three in the United Stales and iwo in Europe simultaneously observe the same quasars. Hydrogen Maser clocks that arc acc Sale to a Lelh of a billionth of a second will record the time that radio signals Are received at each station. Carter says tapes  each will be compared Al inc naval Observatory to determine the difference in Anival Limo of inc same signals at the live swi ions. Weslh these findings and Whoso from inc two laser ranging systems the Earth rotation service will calculate Lor example the time Meridian Zero degrees Longitude in nearby Sevres France the Earth rotation service will coordinate its results with the International Bureau of weights and measures the new radio signals from qua Tan atari Ike objects billions of Light Yert away at the Edge of a known universe Era detected by radio telescopes such Astlett one at the . Naval Observatory Richmond fla., facility. The data will help a dentists make precise measurement of the Earth s motion and time. Aficial world timekeeper. Monitoring the Earth with space age technology moves the calculation of Fon Glude farther than Evor from Greenwich which was Deal gnarled the world s prime Meridian Lor Longitude and time in 1664. The International Meridian conference which met in Washington chose Greenwich Over places As diverse As the great Pyramid in Egypt Iho Temple mount in Jerusalem. The Canary islands Iho Frontier Between Russia and the United slates and observatories in Paris. Berlin and Washington. Previously individual count rules had adopted their own prime meridians but most of the world s shipping meets had relied on the cellar of the transit Telescope Al the Royal Observatory Al Greenwich. Although the Greenwich Observatory has t determined Longitude and time for decades. Iho new system that calculates inc prime Meridian and time irom space technology and atomic clocks around the world still uses Greenwich As the starting paint Carter says the prime Meridian set by the Earth rotation service will probably be Only inches from the line Al Greenwich. Hoped to build a Telescope of equivalent Power will be voiced la watch irom the sidelines. The Telescope is to be built in the mountains of Northern Chile where exports Hope it will capture the faintest traces of Light caching the Earlh irom the edges of the universe Light that has been Raveling since nearly the time the universe can into being 15 billion to so billion Yea 15 ago Light coming irom the outer reaches of the universe contains Long sought clues Aslo How the universe began organising itself. No Hern Chile has become a world Center for astronomical observatories in the last decade because of its Clear dry air and because of its real chess View of stars galaxies quasars and other Celos Lial objects Over the Southern hemisphere. Although european and american astronomers once neg Leclede the Southern skies. Icy now realize thai come of the most important objects including the censer of our own Milky Way Galaxy Are Besl observed Horn the Southern hemisphere. European and american institutions now operate 24 major Asti Nomica telescopes in Northern Chile and More Are under construction. Three countries will be the main i Nanlal supporters of the 16-meter Telescope France and West Germany will each con Lobule 27 percent of its Cost and Italy will provide 20 percent. The governments of Netherlands. Exp Gium Sweden soil Bertand and will also support the project. Denmark May participate As Well Al Tow moment Tho world s Large of Lel scope completed in 1974, is the soviet Union s by Shoi Alt Ozi Mulh instrument at  in the Northern caucasus us main optical component is a Ighel gathering Mirror 6 Mcleis. Or 236 inches in diameter. The most powerful american Insl Rumen is the Hata Telescope on mount Palomar in California. The hate Telescope completed in 1948, has 0 5-meter, or 200-Inch, Mirror. There Are Only about a dozen telescopes with mirrors of at least 2 54 meters or 100 inches in i Amelcar but a surge of Telescope building brought about by the maturing of several now technologies is in Progress. A decade ago astronomers believed that observatories in space would be More effective than ground telescopes for future research. American scientists began work on the 2 4 meter Hubble space Telescope scheduled Tor launching when Shullie lights resume Bui recently Telescope technology has advanced so rapidly thai interest in giant new Earth based telescopes has been rekindled. America s strongest Active entry in the Telescope by 12.1988 building race is the Keck Telescope under construction atop the Mauna Kea Volcano in Hawaii. Ii will have a f 0 meter Mirror and in the closing years of the 20lh Century the Keck Telescope will to by far the most powerful in the world. Beyond the Keck instrument America s most ambitious Telescope project is the National new technology Telescope which scientists hoped would be financed by Iho National science foundation. Ii would have a Light gathering Power comparable to Ihal of the european 1 Gmelch Telescope. However the $125 million project is mired in financing problems. An official of the federally supported National optical astronomy observatories in Tucson an said Chatal the current Raleon Progress it was unlikely that constr Cullon of the new technology Mil Rumont could oven begin until the mid-199q s. Some Observatory officials believe ii is doubtful that the Telescope will Ever be Buill in View of the gloomy financial prospects. Mean wife. The european Southern Observatory is now moving to select Iho Besl site in Northern Chile Lor its 16 meter Telescope Tho Choice has been Naif wed to two Sites the existing european Observatory Complex Al la Silla or a Mountaintop Al Paranial farther North. The 16-meter instrument will consist of four separate telescopes spaced 93 fool apart along a straight line. The Hea l of each Telescope will be a Mirror 8 meters or 26 Icet. In i Amelcar and each Cun to used independently or in combination with the others. The combined tight gathering Power of the four a Meler mirrors will be the same As that of a single Mirror 16 meters in diameter. Depending on observational need astronomers will be Able to Combine the images gathered by the Lour telescopes in either of two ways optically or by conversion of the Light signals to digital data that can be merged and interpreted by computer. In the i acct optical method All Lour telescopes will Lisl be aimed precisely Al the celestial object under study so that the images they produce coincide exactly the images focused by the four mirrors will then be channelled by converging trains of secondary mirrors and lenses to a common receiving Point. The combined image will fall on an electronic imaging Chip similar to those used in television cameras intensity of detail in the resulting picture will be Lour times greater than that produced by a single Telescope and will therefore be much More revealing in Iho computer Mode of combining images. Spectrographic Inta Malion or other data each Telescope will focus Light on its own Detector clip and inc a culling electronic signals will go to a Central compel or. The computer will then synthesize an image graph or table that will Combine the output of All four telescopes or. Lodewyk Wolffer of tha Mel Horlands. Director of the european Observatory said in an interview that the organization planned to begin making components of the Telescope late this year and thai the lust a Meler unit would be finished and ready to begin observations in 1994 or 1995. He expects Ihal All Lour units will be Complete and functioning together before the end of the Century but major problems remain to be resolved not Only for the european instr errant but for virtually All other Large telescopes on the drawing boards of various nations Many of them depend on the fabrication of minors up to 8 meters in diameter and no one has ewer Hull a Telescope juror approaching thai size. Conventional Telescope mirrors Are made by cabling grinding and polishing huge and heavy disks of Glass the Mirror of the soviet Lel scope. For example weighs 42 tons. Also mirrors this Large Are deformed by choir own weight and must be supported by special machinery. They Lake years to cast Cool shape and polish a decade was required to make the 5-Mcte Mirror Lor the Palomar Telescope. If a new gun oration of super telescopes is to to brought within economic reach the mirrors Musl be much cheaper and easier to make than those of the past. European and american Mirror experts have adopted very different approaches to this Challenge Woltjer s european Southern Observatory has decided to base ils super id scope on an assemblage olb motor floppy mirrors fiks made of Glass or some similar material that wiil be so thin Ihal a Slang wind could Bend and shatter them. Images heated by an 8 Moter floppy Mirror some 26 fool in diameter but less than one foot in thickness would be hopelessly distorted by the sexing of the Mirror if it wore installed in a conventional Telescope instead in the european instrument the minor would be supported by 350 continuously moving con acl Points. Each one controlled by a computer. As Iho Telescope moves to loll Waslar. The Chang ing  Miholek Scopo Wil taller  stresses applied Tole floppy Mirror and lend to distort temperature vacations Wio also tend to wait the Rell Chwe surface Bui the computer will  Iho Mirror s shape by continuously varying the pressure of each of the con acl Points. 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