Invited Paper IPF-SuA1
Large Telescope Projects

Sunday, October 19, 2008, 3:00 pm, Room 312

Over the last 150 years, the diameter of the largest operating telescope has doubled every 30 years. The last generation of telescopes (6-10 m diameters) have been in scientific operation for about a decade. While those projects faced a number of optical and structural challenges, the success of the next generation of telescopes depends not only on conquering the technological challenges that come with scaling up large structures, but also on controlling costs and achieving new standards in image quality through active controls and adaptive optics. In this talk, I will discuss some of the challenges associated with building and operating the next generation of "Extremely Large" Telescopes (ELTs).