Kepler
Earth-trailing
solar orbit
(2009)Yerkes
Observatory
Wisconsin
(1897)Hooker
California
(1917)Hale
California
(1949)Bolshoi Azimuthal
Telescope
Russia (1975)Large Binocular
Telescope
Arizona (2005)Very Large
Telescope
Chile (1998)Magellan
Telescopes
Chile
(2000/2002)Gran Telescopio
Canarias
Canary Islands
(2007)Gaia
spacecraft
Earth-Sun L
(2013)W.M. Keck
Observatory
Hawaii
(1990/1996)Subaru
Telescope
Hawaii
(1999)Gemini
North & South
Hawaii/Chile
(1999/2000)Simonyi
Survey Telescope
Chile
(planned 2020)Giant Magellan
Telescope
Chile
(planned 2029)James Webb
Space Telescope
Earth-Sun L
(planned 2021)Hubble Space
Telescope
Low Earth orbit
(1990)Thirty Meter Telescope
Hawaii
(planned 2027)European Extremely
Large Telescope
Chile
(planned 2025)Human10m 30ft0
Key:
Northern Hemisphere (blue)
Southern Hemisphere (green)
Space-based (orange)Tennis court at same scaleHELLO, NEIGHBOR
NASA’S planet-hunting TESS
telescope has discovered a habitable
Earth-sized exoplanet candidate just
100 light-years from Earth — close
enough that its atmosphere could
be targeted by the upcoming
James Webb Space Telescope.BLACK HOLE BULLIES
Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) —
which occur when a black hole
tears an unlucky star into a disk of
hot, glowing gas that is eventually
consumed — may come in two
flavors: complete and partial. New
research suggests the light curves
of TDEs can help astronomers know
at which type they’re looking.EARLY BIRD SPECIAL
A distant, giant galaxy seen as it
existed 1.5 billion years after the Big
Bang appears to have finished
forming stars at its center. The find
implies that other ancient and
massive galaxies might have also
completed star formation in their
cores early in the universe’s history.SPACE TRIAGE
An unnamed astronaut discovered
they had a blood clot in their jugular
vein while carrying out a vascular
study aboard the ISS. The clot was
successfully managed with a
treatment of blood thinners, and
though it was still present 24 hours
after landing on Earth, it was
gone 10 days later.REMIND ME LATER
Astronomers expect a pair of stars
known as V Sagittae, which are on a
spiraling collision course with one
another, to coalesce and go nova
around 2083 — give or take about
10 years. The event is expected to
briefly make V Sagittae the brightest
star in the night sky.BAKER’S DOZEN
Thirteen supermassive black holes
were recently found within dwarf
galaxies more than 100 times less
massive than the Milky Way. Half
were in the center, as expected. But
half the black holes were located in
the outskirts of their host galaxies,
meaning researchers may need to
expand their hunt for supermassive
black holes in dwarf galaxies beyond
just their cores. — J.P.QUICK
TAKE SWWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 11ASTRONOMY: RICK JOHNSON, AFTER CMGLEE/WIKIMEDIA COMMONSTHE NEXT
GENERATION
OF TELESCOPES
Spitzer captures a stellar playground
The Perseus Molecular Cloud, seen here, abounds with young stars. Located about 1,
light-years from Earth, the expansive collection of dust and gas stretches some 500 light-
years across and is home to a number of intriguing targets — including the young star
cluster IC 348 (the bright clump on the left) and the reflection nebula NGC 1333 (upper
right). This image, taken about 10 years ago with NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space
Telescope, captures the infrared radiation streaming from the cloud. — J.P.
OPTICAL EVOLUTION. Mount Wilson’s famous 100-inch (2.5 meters) Hooker Telescope
reigned as the world’s largest from 1917 until Palomar Observatory’s 200-inch (5 m) Hale
Telescope was pressed into service in 1949. Although the primary mirrors of both Hooker
and Hale were modern marvels during their times, the telescopes of a century ago will look
like toys in comparison to the goliath observatories now being built. When the European
Extremely Large Telescope sees first light around 2025, its mirror will stretch a truly mind-
boggling 129 feet (39.3 m) from edge to edge. — ERIC BETZ, J.P.
NASA/JPL-CALTECHThe three smallest ground-based
scopes shown here were the
world’s best for nearly a century.FAST FACT