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> To study the first stars, it would stare at the same patch of sky continuously, to collect as much light from them as possible I hate to be the one to spoil
by mnw21cam 6y ago
> To study the first stars, it would stare at the same patch of sky continuously, to collect as much light from them as possible
I hate to be the one to spoil the party, but the moon rotates. The main problem with a rotating liquid mirror is that you don't get to choose the axis of the parabola, and that axis rotates as the moon orbits the Earth.
You may be able to get a decent view of stars drifting through the view, and with enough orbits you could build up a decent picture, but that's different from staring "at the same patch of sky continuously".
- rthomas6 6y agoSurely these career scientists have considered this problem that you came up with seconds after reading a press release about the idea.
- deliveryboyman 6y agoThe paper mentions this limitation. You really think a team of scientists would not recognize this?
- teraflop 6y agoAs others have pointed out, this was considered. Here is the relevant excerpt from the paper: > To avoid an articulating mount, the telescope would be placed at the lunar pole, constantly pointing at the zenith. [...] The limit on exposure time is then given by the precession of the moon, and is of the order of several days. This can only be extended by the addition of some active tracking facility, for example a moving prime focus platform.
- ant6n 6y agoSo is there Anything interesting to look at?