Gallery: 10 of the Most Awesome, Most Gorgeous Telescopes on Earth

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    Enrico Sacchetti
    01

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    The William Gordon Telescope is a radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. It was built in 1963 and is used to study radio astronomy and atmospheric science. At 1,000 feet, it’s the world’s largest single-aperture RADIO telescope.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    02

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    The Sloan Sky Digital Telescope sits at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. It has completed some of the most detailed 3D maps of the universe ever made.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    03

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    The Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov, known as MAGIC, is two gamma ray telescopes. Each has a mirror surface of 2,540 square feet. It studies active galactic nuclei, black hole binary systems and supernova remnants.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    04

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    The photographer took this image looking up at the sky from inside the main reflector mirror of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas. The telescope is used in the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment to search for dark energy.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    05

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    Japan’s Subaru optical telescope is located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It has one of the largest monolithic primary mirrors in the world, spanning 27 feet.
  • KeckIIAO01
    Enrico Sacchetti
    06

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    The Keck II telescope in Hawaii pioneered the use of lasers in telescopes. It uses a sodium dye laser that charges sodium atoms from left behind by meteors. That makes them light up, creating a fake star that helps astronomers better correct for visual distortions in the earth’s atmosphere.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    07

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    ALMA, the world’s most powerful radio telescope, sits in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    08

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    The photographer used a red flashlight to light this night shot of the Sloan Sky Digital Telescope,
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    09

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    The Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona has two 27-foot mirrors that look like eyes.
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    Enrico Sacchetti
    10

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    The Large Binocular Telescope is an optical telescope sitting at an eleavation of 10,700 feet atop Mount Graham in Arizona.
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