[ExI] the vortices of Jupiter

spike spike66 at att.net
Thu Jul 3 04:31:20 UTC 2008


 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org 
> [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of 
> Damien Broderick
... 
> Okay, Mt. Wilson's 100in Hooker telescope had been seeing for 
> nearly a decade years by then, so maybe. But the Nordic is 
> described in pretty glowing terms, and I wonder what advances 
> are incorporated into it (adaptive optics, say) that would 
> have been unthinkable in 1928?
> 
> Damien Broderick


For planets, a big mirror doesn't help as much as one might think.  The
atmosphere stirs around and messes up the detail on a planetary surface.
Big mirrors are good for dim deep space objects, but planets are relatively
bright.  A smaller mirror coupled with the rare ideal calm atmospheric
conditions would have allowed the viewing of Jovian vortices long before the
Hooker telescope saw first light, and possibly allowed good sketches to be
made before astrophotography.

spike




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