Jerry Rivers writes "If all goes according to plan, Canada will be home to the world's largest telescope.The international project, which has the support of the U.S. Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, is still in the funding stages but when finished it will be roughly the size of a football field.Maybe with this they'll finally find the Restaurant at the End of the Universe."Ads_xl=0;Ads_yl=0;Ads_xp='';Ads_yp='';Ads_xp1='';Ads_yp1='';Ads_par='';Ads_cnturl='';Ads_prf='page=article';Ads_channels='RON_P6_IMU';Ads_wrd='space,tech';Ads_kid=0;Ads_bid=0;Ads_sec=0; Canadians Plan to Build World's Biggest Telescope Log in/Create an Account | Top | 221 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 221 comments 0: 218 comments 1: 166 comments 2: 100 comments 3: 24 comments 4: 12 comments 5: 8 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Wow (Score:5, Funny) by gregbains (890793) <greg_bains@hotmail. c o m> on Wednesday November 02, @09:15PM (#13937783) (http://www.bains007.co.uk/ | Last Journal: Wednesday November 02, @09:33PM) $750 million 10 years to build! This better have some hi-def images of little green men at the end of it [ Reply to ThisRe:Wow by Hott of the World (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:27PMUse it for important stuff... by RoverDaddy (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:58PMRe:Wow by JoshRosenbaum (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:02PM Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny) by isd_glory (787646) * on Wednesday November 02, @10:12PM (#13938096) Screw looking for little green men! Canadians have better things to investigate such as: - Are there other inhabitable planets in our galaxy? - Can we put a hockey rink there? [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Wow by edunbar93 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:47PMRe:Wow by MarkRose (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:18AMRe:Wow by edunbar93 (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:42PM3 replies beneath your current threshold. Ack! (Score:4, Interesting) by Daxster (854610) on Wednesday November 02, @09:15PM (#13937785) (http://mangospoon.com/) The international project, Not quite done by Canadians then. Especially if it's getting funding from a US company... [ Reply to ThisRe:Ack! by SECProto (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:25PMAck your ack by Zeebs (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @09:29PMRe:Ack your ack by Alien Being (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:11PMRe:Ack your ack by ShieldW0lf (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @11:11PMRe:Ack! by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:57PMRe:Ack! by Liam Slider (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:31PMRe:Ack! by pmj (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:56PMRe:Ack! by Bozzio (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:49PMRe:Ack! by Ubergrendle (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:38PMRe:Not actually HOME to... by nametaken (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:52PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. Restaurant (Score:5, Funny) by 42Penguins (861511) on Wednesday November 02, @09:15PM (#13937788) Maybe with this they'll finally find the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.Silly editors...by the time the light from the end of the universe gets here, Earth will have been destroyed by the Vogons.Oh, and when it happens, let me be the first to say:DUPE! [ Reply to ThisRe:Restaurant by 80 85 83 83 89 33 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:35PMCan we get more offtopic here? by RoverDaddy (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @09:49PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Restaurant by 80 85 83 83 89 33 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:20PMRe:Restaurant by snowballs (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:57PMRe:Restaurant by fireman sam (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @10:45PMRe:Restaurant by tverbeek (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:32PMRe:Restaurant by fireman sam (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:56PMRe:Restaurant by h4lphl33tor (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:59PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.1 reply beneath your current threshold. Curiousity in the title! (Score:2, Insightful) by The Shrewd Dude (880136) on Wednesday November 02, @09:16PM (#13937789) Say, if Americans were going to build the world's biggest telescope, the title would not read "Americans Plan to Build World's Biggest Telescope", it would read "World's Biggest Telescope to be Built".Why pick out the country that built it? [ Reply to ThisRe:Curiousity in the title! by 42Penguins (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:18PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Curiousity in the title! by FlynnBoy (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:11PMRe:Curiousity in the title! by jmv (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:25PMRe:Curiousity in the title! by ShieldW0lf (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:20PMRe:Curiousity in the title! by Bad D.N.A. (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:53AM2 replies beneath your current threshold. Telescope, eh? (Score:3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, @09:16PM (#13937793) I heard the optics will be coated in maple syrup. [ Reply to ThisRe:Telescope, eh? by 0xC0FFEE (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:38PMRe:Telescope, eh? by eggoeater (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:50PMRe:Telescope, eh? by nametaken (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:55PMRe:Telescope, eh? by chris_eineke (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:39PM Fake geek detector going off (Score:5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, @09:17PM (#13937797) Maybe with this they'll finally find the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. So you aren't actually familiar with Douglas Adams' work then? Because "the end" refers to the death of the universe, not the farthest reaches of the universe. Unless this new telescope can see into the future (and fiction), it's not going to find the Restaraunt. Looks like somebody's name-dropping to win geek points. Sorry, we can spot fakes a mile off. [ Reply to ThisRe:Fake geek detector going off by tokenhillbilly (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @09:33PMWell... by Poromenos1 (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:36PMRe:Well... by shobadobs (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:20PMRe:Well... by dangitman (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:48AMRe:Fake geek detector going off by barawn (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:42PMRe:Fake geek detector going off by fafalone (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:21AMRe:Fake geek detector going off by wyldeone (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:32AM Time (Score:5, Funny) by pete-classic (75983) <hutnick@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 02, @09:17PM (#13937799) (http://hutnick.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 03, @04:21PM) Maybe with this they'll finally find the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.Telescopes look back in time, not forward.We might have a shot at a glimpse of the Big Bang Burger Bar, though.-Peter [ Reply to This Re:Time (Score:5, Funny) by geekoid (135745) <dadinportland&yahoo,com> on Wednesday November 02, @09:28PM (#13937869) (http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21, @04:37PM) Point them the other way. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Time by pete-classic (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:20PMRe:Time by dangitman (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:51AMRe:Time by Xerxus (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:20PMRe:Time by pete-classic (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:28PM amusing misquote in article (Score:2, Informative) by derniers (792431) on Wednesday November 02, @09:21PM (#13937822) "It's got to be a site that's meaningful from an astrological point of view, but we don't want it to be in place that's so hostile that scientists and people won't go there," Halliday said.of course he (probably) said astrophysical [ Reply to This(Not very) amusing misquote in article by ClickOnThis (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:31PM Not the world's largest telescope. (Score:5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, @09:23PM (#13937829) The telescope refered to in this article is to be the world's largest *optical* telescope. The world's largest telescope will continue to be the Arecibo radio telescope. [ Reply to ThisRe:Not the world's largest telescope. by steve_vmwx (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:57PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Victory at Last (Score:4, Funny) by CommonModeNoise (519251) on Wednesday November 02, @09:23PM (#13937831) (http://www.seti.org/) A glorious victory for US scientists -- we seem to have conquered the Canadian Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics. My Canadian colleagues will taste the "lite-beer of defeat" at last ;-> [ Reply to ThisRe:Victory at Last by The Shrewd Dude (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:25PMRe:Victory at Last by nacturation (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:11PM NFL or CFL (Score:4, Insightful) by uncoveror (570620) on Wednesday November 02, @09:24PM (#13937838) (http://www.uncoveror.com/) A telescope roughly the size of a footabll field? NFL or CFL? A CFL field is much bigger. [ Reply to ThisRe:NFL or CFL by gregbains (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:27PMRe:NFL or CFL by InvalidError (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:05PMRe:NFL or CFL size matters by saskboy (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @09:29PMRe:NFL or CFL size matters by shadowbearer (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:08PMRe:NFL or CFL by strider44 (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:57PMRe:NFL or CFL by pookemon (Score:1) Thursday November 03, @12:33AMRe:NFL or CFL by tverbeek (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:20PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. How large is large? (Score:2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, @09:25PM (#13937847) When completed this Canadian telescope may well be the largest single telescope.However, is it larger than the effective size of the Very Large Telecope [wikipedia.org] array? Or the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope [wikipedia.org] to be built in Chile? [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. I think I speak for all of us when I say... (Score:1) by Kagura (843695) on Wednesday November 02, @09:25PM (#13937848) Ehhhhh?! [ Reply to ThisRe:I think I speak for all of us when I say... by nuckin futs (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:29PM $10 says (Score:1) by i_ate_god (899684) on Wednesday November 02, @09:27PM (#13937863) a beaver will chew through a wire, a moose will get electrocuted, and the scientists will take pictures of their asses after drinking ultra cheap but ultra strong canadian beer.On a side note,You know, they are building a new atom smasher in Canada as well. Perhaps, with all this science going on in my great country, maybe, JUST maybe, we could actually figure out what is in poutine gravy? I'm afraid of the answer mind you, but insanely curious at the same time. [ Reply to ThisRe:$10 says by CestusGW (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:33PMRe:$10 says by acornboy (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:07PM Hubble (Score:2, Insightful) by Cave_Monster (918103) on Wednesday November 02, @09:30PM (#13937882) With Hubble getting rather old, I wonder if this will be its successor. Though I can't help but think that a telescope wizzing around in space would be much more useful than one on the ground. The fact that you don't necessarily have to wait 24 hours to take another look at the same bit of the sky surely has to be an advantage. [ Reply to ThisStill a place for large ground telescopes by Beryllium Sphere(tm) (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:12PMRe:Hubble by InvalidError (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:29PMRe:Hubble by courtarro (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:24PMRe:Hubble by raoul666 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:41PM Restaurant at the BEGINNING of the universe (Score:2) by A nonymous Coward (7548) on Wednesday November 02, @09:32PM (#13937890) Silly editors. Don't they know that the more powerful a telescope, the farther back in time it sees? [ Reply to ThisRe:Restaurant at the BEGINNING of the universe by attonitus (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:46PMSon of a gun! by A nonymous Coward (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:52PM It's a serious challenge (Score:1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, @09:32PM (#13937894) The telescope will be made of many (thousands) small mirrors each of which have to be controlled with an accuracy of approx. 1/14000 the thickness of a human hair. (According to interview on CBC Radio One aired earlier today.) The Canadian contribution will be the support structure (with required accuracy as stated above.) Who is doing the optics hasn't been decided yet. [ Reply to ThisRe:It's a serious challenge by sapbasisnerd (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:02PMThe real challenge is AO by steve_vmwx (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:12PM The "home" hasn't been chosen yet. (Score:1) by nuckfuts (690967) on Wednesday November 02, @09:32PM (#13937896) I read about this the other day. The plan is to build the telescope in Canada but its final location isn't decided yet. Hawaii is one possibility. [ Reply to This As the saying goes... (Score:2) by RyoShin (610051) on Wednesday November 02, @09:35PM (#13937906) You know what they say about countries with big telescopes...Or was it "Countries with big telescopes are making up for something"? [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. Astronomy != Astrology (Score:2) by Kenneth Stephen (1950) on Wednesday November 02, @09:38PM (#13937920) (http://www.linux-learn.org/) From the article:"It's got to be a site that's meaningful from an astrological point of view, but we don't want it to be in place that's so hostile that scientists and people won't go there," Halliday said.I sincerely hope those astronomers arent consulting astrologers in the placement of the telescope. [ Reply to This sad (Score:2) by attonitus (533238) on Wednesday November 02, @09:39PM (#13937926) "It's got to be a site that's meaningful from an astrological point of view, but we don't want it to be in place that's so hostile that scientists and people won't go there," Halliday said. I expect that he didn't. [ Reply to This Is waiting 10 years and $750 worth it? (Score:1) by ViperG (673659) on Wednesday November 02, @09:40PM (#13937928) (http://www.blackskygame.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday January 05, @12:26PM) Can anyone confirm that this telescope will be more powerfull than the huble? and by how much.If it's not 3x more magnification at a minimum of the huble scope, then 10 years is going to be a waste of time. [ Reply to ThisIt won't matter by artifex2004 (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:49PMDon't worship the Hubble. by EraserMouseMan (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:32PMRe:Don't worship the Hubble. by superpulpsicle (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:16PMRe:Don't worship the Hubble. by Betelgeuse (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:44AMRe:Is waiting 10 years and $750 worth it? by OldSoldier (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:35PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Obnoxiously Large Telescope (Score:5, Funny) by Council (514577) <rmunroe@gmail.3.1415926com minus pi> on Wednesday November 02, @09:42PM (#13937940) (http://www.xkcd.com/) First there was the Very Large Telescope [wikipedia.org].Then there was the Extremely Large Telescope [ucolick.org].As of a year or so ago, no kidding, they're building the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope [wikipedia.org] (official name).So what name does this one get?The Staggeringly Large Telescope? Not as big as "overwhelming". The Astonishingly Large Telescope? Also too small. Ditto for "Frighteningly".Stupefyingly? Or perhaps the Surpassingly Large Telescope?The Horrifyingly Large Telescope?Possibly The Nightmarishly Huge Telescope. Or the Blood-Curdlingly Large Telescope. [ Reply to ThisRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by Oliver Defacszio (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @09:52PMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by colenski (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:14PMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by spre3368 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @09:56PMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by frossie (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:03PMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by MarchHare (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:19PMSpaceballs by shpoffo (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:43AMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by smithmc (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:23PMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by Bob Hearn (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:30PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by edunbar93 (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @10:38PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Steve Jobs by ProfessionalCookie (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @10:49PMAstronomically Large Telescope by lullabud (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @11:14PMRe:Obnoxiously Large Telescope by Concerned Onlooker (Score:2) Thursday November 03, @12:18AM6 replies beneath your current threshold. Well, Texas... (Score:1) by Nolkyan (845268) on Wednesday November 02, @09:44PM (#13937949) Apparently everything's bigger in Canada! [ Reply to This Wrong hemisphere (Score:1) by waffffffle (740489) on Wednesday November 02, @09:44PM (#13937950) Isn't the southern hemisphere better suited for a large telescope? It's my understanding that the southern face of the earth looks more towards the center of the galaxy and the sky is much clearer down there, which means a better look at the sky. If I'm not mistaken, most of the largest telescopes today are in the southern hemisphere. [ Reply to ThisRe:Wrong hemisphere by inventor61 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:12PMRe:Wrong hemisphere by NixieBunny (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @10:27PMRe:Wrong hemisphere by sapbasisnerd (Score:3) Wednesday November 02, @10:38PMRe:Wrong hemisphere by Jerry Rivers (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @11:12PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Question (Score:4, Funny) by Comatose51 (687974) on Wednesday November 02, @09:46PM (#13937965) "it will be roughly the size of a football field"Sure but how many Libraries of Congress (or LoC) of data can it gather per fortnight is what I really want to know. [ Reply to This