Bøger af Terry D. Oswalt

The motivation for these volumes is to provide a vision for the future of small telescopes. While this is an admirable task, ultimately I believe that­ as happens all the time in science - the prognostications will be overtaken by a rapidly changing scientific reality. As Virginia Trimble points out in chapter 1, the kinds of big questions that face us as astronomers today are rather different than the ones that drove the construction of astronomical facilities through much of the twentieth century. Right now, it appears that small telescopes will not have a lot of influence in answering those questions, though they will of course contribute enormously to the many issues discussed throughout the three volumes. Weare on the verge of opening a whole new parameter space that may revolutionize the way we think of small telescopes and their role in astronomy - the domain of the rapidly variable sky. While the LSST is the most prominent example, it is a long way in the future. Nemiroff & Rafert (chapter 2) consider the value of monitoring large parts of the sky on a continuous basis, using technology similar to a webcam. They have installed their CONCAM2 at four locations, including Kitt Peak. A related project, built and operated by the Harvard graduate student Gaspar Bakos - HAT-l (Hungarian Automated Telescope) - also is in operation at Kitt Peak.

This title details the essential roles that small telescopes should play in 21st century science and how their future productivity can be maximized. Over 70 experts from all corners of the international astronomical community have created a reference on the future of big science with small telescopes. at national facilities and their omission from national science priority studies, the oft-lamented demise of the small telescope has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, the future of these workhorses of astronomy will be brighter than ever if creative steps are taken now. This three-volume set defines essential roles that small telescopes should play in 21st century science and the ways in which a productive future for them can be realized. A wide cross-section of the astronomical community has contributed to a definitive assessment of the present and a vision for the future. volume one of this three-volume set examines the public's and the astronomical communities' own perceptions and misconceptions of small telescope productivity. These shape the future scientific research that will be done with telescopes smaller than 4-m in aperture and the number of astronomers that will have access to them.