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Currently, the largest general-purpose telescope in China has a 2 meter aperture.
The Chinese government has provided funding for a new 12 meter-aperture telescope.
The question in China is whether the new telescope (at a cost of $300 million) will be based on a proven 3-mirror design or will China attempt to build an untested Chinese four-mirror system?
The Chinese Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology (NIAOT) four-mirror design will provide higher-quality images, but no one in the world has built a four-mirror telescope. The technological challenges can be overcome, but the cost in time and money are unknown. The other drawback is a more limited field-of-view with a four-mirror design. The field-of-view can be fixed by simply pointing the telescope more often at a different spot in the sky.
Will China jump into the technological unknown and choose the Chinese four-mirror telescope design? Stay tuned and find out how this story ends.
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Row threatens Chinese telescope | Physics World
The Chinese government has provided funding for a new 12 meter-aperture telescope.
The question in China is whether the new telescope (at a cost of $300 million) will be based on a proven 3-mirror design or will China attempt to build an untested Chinese four-mirror system?
The Chinese Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology (NIAOT) four-mirror design will provide higher-quality images, but no one in the world has built a four-mirror telescope. The technological challenges can be overcome, but the cost in time and money are unknown. The other drawback is a more limited field-of-view with a four-mirror design. The field-of-view can be fixed by simply pointing the telescope more often at a different spot in the sky.
Will China jump into the technological unknown and choose the Chinese four-mirror telescope design? Stay tuned and find out how this story ends.
----------
Row threatens Chinese telescope | Physics World
