When it comes to telescopes, bigger is better. That's why we're investing billions of dollars into a new generation of "extremely large telescopes", such as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). But is 30 meters truly extreme? Could it be possible to ever build a telescope on the scale of a planet? In a new research paper by our very own Professor David Kipping, a solution for turning the Earth into a "Terrascope" is presented. Join us on a journey though the history of telescope inventions as well David's own personal journey to devising this new radical approach to the telescope.

Written and Presented by Professor David Kipping

This video is based on research conducted at the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia University, New York. You can now support our research program directly here: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support

The Terrascope paper can be found at:
► Kipping, David (2019), "The Terrascope: On the Possibility of Using the Earth as an Atmospheric Lens", PASP, accepted for publication: http://coolworlds.astro.columbia.edu/...

Chapters
0:00 Prologue
0:43 Telescopes through Time
7:48 Natural Lensing
14:02 The Green Flash
18:55 The Terrascope
26:42 Dreams of Our Youth

Video materials and graphics used:
► JWST timelapse from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12145
► GTC footage by Gianluca Lombardi:    • Meet the Giant  A night at the 10.4m...  
► ELT animation by ESO & Herbert Zodet: https://www.eso.org/public/usa/videos...
► GMT mirror casting by University of Arizona Steward Observatory Mirror Lab:    • Video  
► Water lensing clips by Spa Nederland:    • Video  
► NASA/International Space Station footage of the Earth
► Green Flash footage by Mila Zinkova:    • Green flash sunset  
► Earth timelapse taken by EPIC onboard NOAA's DSCOVR satellite, video by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Kayvon Sharghi: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12312
► WFIRST animation by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12153
► JWST deployment animation by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10660

Movies/TV scenes used:
► Interstellar (2014)
► Sunshine (2007)
► Einstein and Eddington (2008)

Music used, in chronological order:
► "Waking Up" by Atlas, licensed through SoundStripe.com: https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/3984'>https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/3984
► Music from Neptune Flux, "The Oceans Continue to Rise" by Chris Zabriskie (http://chriszabriskie.com/neptuneflux/); licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
► Music from Honor, "The Sun Is Scheduled to Come Out Tomorrow" by Chris Zabriskie (http://chriszabriskie.com/honor/); licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
► Music from Neptune Flux, "Stories About the World That Once Was" by Chris Zabriskie (http://chriszabriskie.com/neptuneflux/); licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
► "It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn" by Hill, licensed through SoundStripe.com: https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/7441
► "Waking Up" by Atlas, licensed through SoundStripe.com: https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/3984'>https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/3984
► "Reverence" by Triad, licensed through SoundStripe.com: https://app.soundstripe.com/songs/754
► Cylinder Two (http://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders/) by Chris Zabriskie (http://chriszabriskie.com/); licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
► Music from Honor, "The Sun Is Scheduled to Come Out Tomorrow" by Chris Zabriskie (http://chriszabriskie.com/honor/); licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

And also...
► Columbia University Department of Astronomy: http://www.astro.columbia.edu
► Cool Worlds Lab website: http://coolworlds.astro.columbia.edu

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