Science Friday

Auer + Weber's "Residencia" at Paranal in Chile may have caught the eye as an evil aesthete's dream lair in "Quantum of Solace", but the real stars on remote mountain tops are the telescopes they support, and the bizarre housing that protect them.

This is the VLT (yes, very large telescope) and it works by using three of the mirrors in unison to create a viewing area larger than any single mirror that could be built.

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona has massive rails that slide aside doors to allow the dual mirrors a clear view of the night sky. Temperature differentials can cause the mirrors to warp, so huge duct work pumps outside air into the chamber to keep the equipment at the ambient air temperature during the day.

Mirror construction is an arms race to create the largest visible field possible to see farther away, and further in to the past. The contrast between the science at work, and the dry acronyms that name these projects is entertaining. Of course the logical conclusion is this project:

Behold the OLT. Yes, the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope.

These are wonderfull monstrosities for their scale and sci-fi boldness even if they do lack in some refinement. But there are beautiful telescopes as well, and maybe architects should take a look at these prosaic projects once again. SOM's solar observatory at Kitt Peak is surely a masterpiece of modern architecture.

And when James Turrell finishes his work at Rodin Crater, we may have the most ambitious intersection of art and science since the Egyptions (or at least the 10,000 year clock, but that's another post...)