(Ha'aretz) Gid'on Lev - Scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science set up a new telescope this week that is the strongest of its kind in the world - at a cost of only $2 million. The new observatory, built near Kibbutz Neot Smadar, is composed of 32 telescopes, with a planned expansion later this year to 48 telescopes, at which point it will have the largest field of vision in the world, with a sky-scanning capability three times greater than that of any other observatory. The telescopes scan the entire sky once an hour, and are capable of noticing stars whose light intensity is 1,000,000 times smaller than what the human eye is capable of seeing. The new telescope will have a field of vision of 350 square degrees. The $10 billion James Webb telescope has a tiny field of vision - about one-thousandth of one square degree. David Polishook, director of the new observatory, explained, "Our system is like a reconnaissance soldier who is searching for targets. Once he spots them, large telescopes will be able to better observe them."
2023-03-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive