Is a big telescope better than a small one? Well, it all depends on what you want to use it for and how much the cost difference is.
As with airplanes, bigger isn’t always better. A little two-place airplane works just fine for training pilots in the initial stages, thank you. A six-place jet can often conduct research aloft just as effectively as a big Boeing 747, and at a much lower cost.
So it is with telescopes. This size and cost issue is so important that the American Astronomical Society will hold a conference called the “Alt-Az Initiative for Lightweight Research Telescopes Workshop” June 6-7 at the Hilton Hotel in Pasadena, California. It’s the ninth such gathering the society has arranged on this topic.
One of the panel discussions is titled, “Research programs well suited to low cost, dedicated, 1-2 meter telescopes.” How can small telescopes be better for research? Leaders of the conference say: “Large telescopes excel in the detailed study of faint objects at the edge of the observable universe and high-resolution examination of specific objects. However, small telescopes continue their valuable role in astronomical research through time series, networked, and other observations that only large numbers of small telescopes can provide — tasks which are cost prohibitive for large telescopes. Small telescopes also continue to play a vital role in recruiting and training the next generation of astronomers and instrumentalists, and serve as test beds for developments of novel instruments and experimental methods.”
If you’d like to learn more about this topic by attending the workshop, you can register by going to www.AltAzInitiative.org. Sometimes it pays to think small. (Even the registration fee is small at $35.)