FUNA Lunch Talk:

Alan Tokunaga

University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy

Small Telescopes in the Era of the Extremely Large Telescopes

September 27

12:10PM, Room 230, NRAO, Edgemont Road

Abstract:

There is still much to be done with mid-size telescopes (less than or equal to 4 meters) even though there is greater attention and funding aimed at extremely large telescopes such as the Thirty-Meter Telescope. I will discuss flexible modes of observations with the 3.0-m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility that help us to do unique observations and to expand our user base. At the high end of the aperture range there are extremely large telescope projects and associated instrumentation. I will discuss some of the questions these projects pose for our scientific community, such as finding a balance of facilities, future funding, and limits to growth in telescope aperture.