The New Ground-Based Optical Telescopes

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Abstract
We are in a period of rapid improvement in the capability of telescopes. Great strides are being taken to improve angular resolution, to increase sensitivity at all wavelengths and to make the most efficient use of wide‐field images. The technical challenges involved in such development are great, for not only do we need mirror surfaces much larger than what we have used before, but we require higher image quality. It has recently become clear that the best mountaintop observatory sites occasionally deliver images as sharp as 0.3 arcsecond, an image quality that many existing telescopes cannot maintain.