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Australia’s starring role in the next great eye on the sky

Richard Marles

by Richard Marles

12 Jul 05:50am

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Filed under: Astronomy, Giant Magellan Telescope, Hubble Telescope, Innovation, Science

30 comments

If you haven’t heard about the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) it’s time to tune in. Along with its cousins the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) and the US Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the GMT will be a telescope of an entirely different magnitude to any that has ever existed.

Artist's impression of the mirror. Pic: GMTO.org

The Australian connection to the GMT is being forged in northern NSW through one of the grand elders of optical astronomy.

The recently reincarnated AAO – the Australian Astronomical Observatory at Coonabarabran – was the most advanced telescope in the world when it was opened in 1974. At 4 metres it was one of the largest telescopes of its day and the first to be computer operated.

There are far larger telescopes in the world nowadays yet the AAO remains amazingly productive. In the world ranking of telescopes based on academic productivity, the AAO still ranks 5th, (the Hubble telescope is numero uno): not bad for a 36 year old.

Today the largest telescope in the world is the Gran Telescopio Canarias at La Palma in the Canary Islands which is a 10.4 metre telescope.

And so in this context the GMT will be a monster. With a primary mirror 24.5 metres in diameter, it will be ten times more powerful than the Hubble telescope.

It is due to be built by 2019 on the Las Campanas Peak high in the Andes in Chile: the best site in the world for telescopes. The partners in the GMT are Australia, South Korea and a consortium of US universities.

The GMT, the TMT and the E-ELT will allow us to look deeper into the universe. We will be able to see planets in distant solar systems with enough clarity to determine what elements and molecules are present on that planet.

And here is where the promise of the GMT becomes truly profound. By being able to determine the chemical composition of these planets we will be able to look for those molecules which are unmistakenly a product of life: such as large quantities of CO2.

The GMT will be able to see if a planet has biomarkers. It won’t tell us what sort of life produced the biomarkers. It won’t allow us to communicate with that life.

But the GMT will allow us to pinpoint a spot in the cosmos where life has existed and in the process finally determine that we are not alone in the universe.

It will be a moment in human history the equal of no other.

The GMT is just one mega science project in which Australia is playing a leading role. In the Netherlands two weeks ago the Australian science minister, Kim Carr, represented our country in relation to another – the Square Kilometre Array telescope (SKA) – at the SKA Forum.

In terms of global astronomical infrastructure the SKA is the mother of them all. The SKA will be an array of radio telescopes, integrated through IT into one unit that will have a combined surface area of one square kilometre. That’s the better part of the size of Adelaide’s CBD. This is a multi billion dollar project which will see its host become the global centre of radio astronomy as well as, in all probability, a global centre of information technology. And Australia is down to one of two countries competing for the host rights.

The SKA will allow us to see further back in time than ever before to the very edge of the big bang, to the era of first-light.

There is something special about astronomy.

When Galileo looked through his telescope and made observations about the heavens, he entered a debate about whether the earth was or was not the centre of the universe. It was a debate far more profound than science. It was about how humanity was special or whether we were special at all. It was a debate which went to the very heart of the human condition.

The GMT and the SKA will do the same. In looking to the origins of the universe they will speak to every person’s desire to understand where we come from. And in identifying other life out there they will speak to humanity’s eternal battle against loneliness.

Like no other area of science astronomy engages philosophy and in the process tells us much about ourselves. As astronomers gaze to the heavens our daily lives are placed in stark contrast. Fundamental lessons are learnt.

Perhaps the most important is that when your job is dealing with the cosmos earthly disputes can seem a little trivial. And so amongst all they will discover the greatest point astronomers will continue to make is to reaffirm: that which we have in common is so much more important than that which divides.

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30 comments

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    • DD Ball says:

      07:54am | 12/07/10

      I remember a wife asking her husband why he had to sit in the front row of the cinema with the kids, he said he wanted to “see and hear it first.”
      Another time, a science teacher asked his class why telescopes were placed on mountains, the class said it was so as to get closer to what was being watched.
      Sometimes the funny answers stick longer than the correct ones.
      I love astronomy without wishing to be deprived of warmth or daylight to enjoy the results.
      My burning question, which astronomers have not answered, is, “Can they see any global warming?”

      Reply

    • T.Chong says:

      08:25am | 12/07/10

      DD- astronomy is a science in itself, and whethe ran astronomists can detect it is irrevalent,as its a science of a different type, but as some one who loves astronomy I’m sure you know that.
      Obviosly you are trying to imply that global warming isnt an issue, undetectable etc
      So how about DD, with yur love of astronomy, what part of space does your wonderfully christian god live in ? He is up there somewhere looking down isnt he.?, dispensing divine wisdom , telling believers how to live. And with all those christian martyrs ,the whole ‘Heavenly Host “must be visible feature somewhere on your star wheel.

    • iansand says:

      08:37am | 12/07/10

      DD Ball - Astronomy looks at things outside th Earth’s atmosphere.  Global warming happens within the Earth’s atmosphere.  Are you with me so far?

      Good.  What did you expect astronomy to reveal about climate change?

    • TimB says:

      10:22am | 12/07/10

      @ T.Chong- What purpose could you possibly have bringing DD’s religious views into this topic? I’m not religious myself, but I like to think I’m above this sort of cheap bullying. I hope you’re ashamed of yourself.

      @ iansand, so you’re saying NOTHING outside our atmosphere could have anything to do with climate change? Like I don’t know…the Sun for example?!

      Who knows what else they might find out there that might affect Earth? Of course anything that they found wouldn’t fit in the green crusaders view that all of humanity is evil and guilty of everything.

    • iansand says:

      11:34am | 12/07/10

      TimB - Nothing that this baby will be looking at.  It will not be looking 8 minutes away.  More like 14 billion years.

    • DD Ball says:

      01:03pm | 12/07/10

      T.Chong, astronomers (with the right instruments) can record an albedo of an object and give an estimate for heat. Not only can we do that for the Earth, we can do that for other planets and moons, and so measure the sun’s influence. I think it worth while measuring the sun’s influence before declaring it negligible .. right? If you wish to say my idea was inspired, you may.
      According to scripture, the kingdom of god is all around us, but not of us .. and not accessible to you, or I, alone.

    • TimB says:

      01:04pm | 12/07/10

      @ iansand

      How can you possibly know that? You have no idea what’s out there. There could be all kinds of stuff far out there that might give us insight into how our own planet is affected by stellar phenomena.
      My use of the Sun was just an example to point out your logical fallacy of assuming nothing out there had any relevance to events on this planet.

    • DD Ball says:

      01:05pm | 12/07/10

      Iansand, my point about measuring heat signatures and comparing them with solar output should answer your question too.
      TimB, spot on. Party on.

    • T.Chong says:

      01:34pm | 12/07/10

      DD reply to 1 03 yes the instruments do exist, but I dont think that astronomy deals with the issue of global warming as its core business,
      so therefore proof, or repudiation maybe a while to sway the debate.
      and as Tim B pointed out, my reference to yur Christian beliefs now does seem tacky, but it was made tongue in cheek, no harm offence intended.
      an earlier post to that effect must have got lost thru technical difficulties.

    • Rob r Charteris says:

      01:39pm | 12/07/10

      DD Ball says:01:03pm; Albedo is the ratio of the amount of light reflected from a solar system object to that recieved by it. A perfectly reflecting body has an albedo of 1.0 or 100 percent. It is not a measure of it’s heat signeture. You might want to leave science to us atheist amateur astronomers and go back to the good book.

      I think it is fantastic that we are involved with Giant Magellan Telescope, I myself along many other friends have been following this project for some years.

    • iansand says:

      04:47pm | 12/07/10

      DD Ball & TimB - You clearly have no idea about the cutting edges of astrophysics, and what this telescope will be used for.

      “The SKA will allow us to see further back in time than ever before to the very edge of the big bang, to the era of first-light.” is not talking about looking at anything in this solar system, or possibly even this galaxy.  That is looking at stuff 14 billion years ago.

    • DD Ball says:

      06:04pm | 12/07/10

      Rob r Charteris re Albedo, I can say your reference is more precise, I didn’t provide a link. I used to work the reference desk at Wikipedia for science and I know what I was suggesting is part of the work done already. What you just wrote was what Arthur Schopenhauer described in his 38 ways to win an argument you actually lost and is second on his list.
      T.Chong, apology accepted .. I took it with humor. Point being made, though is that astronomy is far broader than you suggest with what they should or should not do. I note not everything they can do is done.
      As for the article and that telescope .. I look forward to it, and what it finds. It will fit in well with the sci fi series I am developing. “Birth of the WEB: Whole Earth Biota” and yes, some ideas are derivative too.

    • TimB says:

      07:22pm | 12/07/10

      @iansand- And YOU clearly didn’t read the article.  That’s not ALL it can be used for.

      “The GMT, the TMT and the E-ELT will allow us to look deeper into the universe. We will be able to see planets in distant solar systems with enough clarity to determine what elements and molecules are present on that planet.
      And here is where the promise of the GMT becomes truly profound. By being able to determine the chemical composition of these planets we will be able to look for those molecules which are unmistakenly a product of life: such as large quantities of CO2. “

      It can detect that CO2 stuff that has everyone in such a tizzy. Who knows what other things it can detect & information it can glean from it? Not me, and certainly not you. Unless you have a degree in this stuff I suggest you be quiet.

    • Macca-d says:

      11:09am | 13/07/10

      Hi DD,

      In answer to your question, no they won’t be able to detect global warming.  They do hope to detect the chemical composition of planets.  So rocky planets with C02 in the atmosphere (like Earth and Venus) will look similar. 

      Speaking of which, if you want to see the effects of greenhouse gases on earth-like planets, then Venus is a pretty good place to start looking.

    • Rob r Charteris says:

      11:04am | 15/07/10

      DD Ball says:06:04pm; I can see why you don’t work the reference desk at Wikipedia for science anymore, that’s if you ever did. As I have already stated albedo is not the measure or part of the measure of a solar system or any other objects heat signature. I’m been an amateur astronomer for 10+ years built several fully operational telescopes the last being a computer guided 16” dob. I don’t consider myself an expert but I do know what albedo is. And I’ll wear losing out to a 1860 philosopher with honour whatever that ignorant fool has to do with this discussion. The world has moved on fella. Lost my @$$ lol that’s the problem with you ignorant fools you never know when the game is up.

    • Graham S says:

      10:04am | 12/07/10

      Has Senator Fielding been told about this? The bit about the posibility of the existence of a lifeform in a distant part of the universe or is he too busy happy clapping and tambourine waving with the rattlesnale handlers

      Reply

    • Elphaba says:

      10:18am | 12/07/10

      I can’t understand why people can believe in God and not in lifeforms on other planets.

      Is it not possible that God got cooking in another kitchen and broke a few eggs before he got started here?

      It seems to be less of a leap in logic than believing in an omnipotent being that created the Earth in 6 days, and that we’re 10 000 years old, and evolution is hooey, etc etc

    • Peter says:

      10:50am | 12/07/10

      Im not aware of a christian theology that says that life elsewhere does not exist. There is no conflict with religion here..

    • Elphaba says:

      11:07am | 12/07/10

      Sorry Peter, speaking from personal experience.  It was a broad sweeping statement, I apologise.

    • Peter says:

      02:45pm | 12/07/10

      That’s cool. I don’t want to come across as a religious nut either. I suppose this is the only forum i ever talk about religion. Some friends of mine might be surprised if they knew…

    • iansand says:

      06:48pm | 12/07/10

      Peter - How does extra-terrestrial life fit with Genesis?  Did god forget to mention all that life he created elsewhere, or are we travelling down some path of continuous revelation here?

    • Peter says:

      10:14am | 13/07/10

      @ iansand. I never said the bible was a lesson in cosmic astronomy, black holes (dark matter/energy which scientists are now believing does not exist at all) or pulsars. I thought the bible just talked about creation of man on earth.. I don’t think God covered off on any microbes on the moon of europa…

    • acker says:

      10:53am | 12/07/10

      Surely it is about time our rich nation developed a space program

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      01:24pm | 13/07/10

      If my memory serves me correctly Australia had an option to participate in the ISS and declined. Rather sad i thought…

    • P. Darvio says:

      11:02am | 12/07/10

      Meanwhile Obama is killing off NASA, redirecting it to become a Muslim Outreach program (no joke - see the recent speach given by the NASA administrator Charles Bolden to Aljazzera TV) and shutting down the US manned Space Flight program. Seems the US is getting out of science and going backwards with this US President.

      Reply

    • 6c legs says:

      01:40pm | 12/07/10

      maybe Obama is more concerned with spending those billions of dollars trying to save his country and countrymen from a deep depression, than trying to advance the few (in comparison) scientists careers…

      fat lot of good going back to the moon would be to the millions of Americans looking for work (not to mention all those defaulted on -mainly by ‘tea baggers’] - macmansions…) it’s a bit like north korea/pakistan/india having space and nuclear programs when so many of their people still live in the 12th century.  It’s Not A Good Look!


      The US hurtled backwards for the best part of a decade, and Shrubco’s science hating feet were firmly on the accelerator!  So it’s a tad disengenuous to claim the redirection is because Obama’s some kind of science hater whose hell bent on making Creation taught in every school and college -  because that would’ve been Shrubco, NOT Obama!  (you might not have stated that, but it’s implied…)

      Space travel is a luxury that the US just cannot afford, at the moment. (maybe if they hadn’t been at war with 2 countries for 9 years, they could ? ? ? )

      Oh, and “P Darvio”, remember to take your ‘tea bags’ with you when you leave . . .

    • stephen says:

      12:03pm | 12/07/10

      About 2 years ago, one of the giant telescopes detected a gamma-ray burst 12.2 billion light years away - and photographed it. That is, the Astronomers have a visual record of such a distant object, which over a period of 4 months, gradually faded from view. Powerful telescpoes indeed, but imagine for a moment the energy un-leashed by this object that is so far away. And when we get the big telescope, i wanna plug her in, get the worm-gears goin, and point her toward Centrelink and check out where life is !

      Reply

    • Temerarious says:

      01:48pm | 12/07/10

      I would like to know why it’s no longer called the Anglo-Australian Observatory? I can still remember HRH Prince Charles visiting Coonabarabran in 1974 to open this amazing piece of technology. It was a memorable occasion for our tiny town!

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      02:56am | 13/07/10

      Oh, for God’s sake. Some reality is needed in this case.

      “humanity’s eternal battle against loneliness”—who said that humans have an eternal battle against loneliness? Oh, nobody? Or, more likely, you made it up? Gosh, then it must be an entirely hyperbolic statement.

      “Perhaps the most important is that when your job is dealing with the cosmos earthly disputes can seem a little trivial.”—no, they’re not trivial. They’re actually quite meaningful, even if inconsequential in the long run. As the only intelligent beings in the universe, all our dealings are meaningful.

      The greatest lesson they’ll ever teach us (and it is already well known to astronomers and physicists) is that nothing ever lasts. Nothing. Even time itself will run out. Our descendants, billions of years down the line, will have to confront a massive heat death in a collapsing universe. The only alternative is a slow, cold death in a universe that burns itself out over the eons.

      That is, of course, unless the religious people are right. Trouble is, which religion?

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      01:32pm | 14/07/10

      Now that some scientists are telling us that dark matter/energy does not exists after years of telling us that it does but we just can’t see it, what could possibly explain the acclerated expansion of the universe? Im no scientist, but how does this accelerating universe fit in with the Big Bang theory? Surely the thrust created by such a big explosion would have started slowing down shortly after this so called Big Bang? Mysteries, mysteries, and here I am being told that scientists know everything..

      Reply
 
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