... ESO is building what will be the World's largest optical telescope array, The Very Large Telescope (VLT). The VLT Project organisation is responsible for the design and construction of the Unit Telescopes, including enclosures, optics, adapter-rotators and coating unit. ... Unit Telescopes Overview - This page is outdated, an update is in process. ... Secondary mirror (M2 Unit) - This page is outdated, an update is in process. ... Coating Unit - This page is outdated, an update is in process. ...

... AURA , NSF Explanation: Two storms systems larger than Earth are nearly colliding right now on planet Jupiter . ... In the above false-color infrared image taken last week by the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii , the red spots appear white because their cloud tops tower above other clouds. ... Astronomers will continue to monitor Red Spot Jr. closely, however, to see if it will remain red when it rotates away from the larger Great Red Spot . ... Jupiter s Clouds from New Horizons . ...

... 2003 October 27 . Large Sunspot Groups 10484 and 10486 . ... Explanation: Two unusually large sunspot groups are now crossing the face of the Sun . Each group, roughly the size of Jupiter , is unusual not only for its size but because it is appearing over three years after solar maximum , the peak of solar surface activity. Sunspot group 10484 appears near the image center, while sunspot group 10486 is just coming over the left limb of the Sun. ... About APOD | ...

... 2000 September 25 . AR 9169: A Large Sunspot . ... Explanation: One of the largest sunspots in recent years is now crossing our Sun . Dominating active region AR 9169 , the sunspot is the large dark complex visible below (west) and right of center in the above photograph of our Sun taken last Thursday. ... AR 9169 holds the largest sunspot yet produced during this Solar Maximum , the time of greatest sunspot activity during the Sun's 11-year magnetic cycle . ... About APOD | ...

M1 image More About M1 Nice Color Picture . ... M16 image More About M16 HST image . ... M31 image More About M31 Nice Color Picture . ... M42 image ; M43 image More About M42/43 Nice Color CCD Picture . M51 image More About M51 Color Image of M51 M51 Supernova . M57 image More About M57 Nice Color CCD Picture Very Deep M57 Image . ... M81 image More About M81 M81 Supernova Ultraviolet Image of M81 More about Ultraviolet Imaging . M82 image More About M82 M82 False Color M82 True Color . ...

... Bad Astronomy . ... Bitesize Astronomy . ... Last week's Snack talked about how black holes can affect the environment around them in such a way as to be very bright . ... It's a common misconception that black holes always have matter swirling into them. ... As this matter gets closer and closer to the black hole it piles up and a large, fairly flat disk forms. This is called the accretion disk , because matter from this disk accretes (that is, falls in) on the black hole. ... 2008 Phil Plait. ...

... Today this year's largest group of sunspots will cross the Sun's central meridian. ... The next day, the number of spots in the group reached five, and the day after, on June 2nd, it was possible to count thirteen sunspots on solar disk, which had been clear prior to this. ... This year's two most powerful active areas, which passed across the solar disk at the beginning of May, 2009, are set to appear in the Sun's eastern sector in two days, on June 6th. ...

... The British consortium, currently led by Professor Gordon Bromage of the University of Central Lancashire , includes the Universities of Keele , Nottingham and Southampton , the Open University and Armagh Observatory and will be joining the other partners in the SALT project, from South Africa, Poland, Germany, USA and New Zealand. ... SALT Dome . ... The SALT project is managed by a team based at the SALT Headquarters at Sutherland and South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town. ...

... Large . ... Normal . ... Thumbnails . ... Enter: Large | ... Contents with thumbnails: Large | ... Florence streets . ... Rome. ... Sunday, 12 September. ... Monday, 13 September. ... Tuesday, 14 September. ... Wednesday, 15 September. ... Thuesday, 16 September. ... Friday, 17 September. ... Saturday, 18 September. ... There's also index of the complete set of photos with thumbnails. ... return to photo album contents | ...

Astronotes Armagh Planetarium's Stellar Blog! ... Moon . ... According to Ron Miller, author of the respected history of spaceship concepts The Dream Machines , the first known appearance of the tale in print was in the 2 October Тљ1909 issue of Scientific American where the hero was named т??Wang Tuт?? ... Naming a crater after Wan Hu т??the legendary Chinese inventorт?? was proposed shortly after the Soviet probe Zond 3 flew past the Moon in July 1965 returning images of the Moon?s western farside. ...

... Tonight's Sky . ... The Magazine . ... Observing . ... Magazine . ... Gravitational wave search provides insights into galaxy evolution and mergers . ... The double star 54 Leonis, spiral galaxy NGC 3198, and emission nebula NGC 3199 . ... Astronomy for Kids . ... Observing springtime deep-sky objects with a large telescope . ... large (8 inches or larger) . ... Receive news, sky-event information, observing tips, and more from Astronomy's weekly email newsletter. ... Astronomy Magazine . ...

The focus of the meeting is to explore scientific frontiers that require large collecting area and state of the art instrumentation over the next 5 to 15 years. ... The meeting will form the basis for an Arecibo scientific and instrumentation roadmap that takes into account developments in electromagnetic and non-photonic astronomy and, in particular, development of the Square Kilometer Array. ... COSMOLOGY & GALAXY EVOLUTION . ... INSTRUMENTATION DEVELOPMENT . ...