Telescope is as big as a building ... 10 floors

Astronomers were stunned by the most valuable gift to them. The charity, sponsored by Gordan Moore, co-founder of Intel, and his wife, will donate $ 200 million to build the world's largest optical telescope.

" It is the biggest news for astronomers since the launch of the Hubble Space Observatory," said astronomer Sandra Faber of the University of Santa Cruz, California, USA.

The 30-meter-diameter glass is a $ 1 billion project co-operated by the California Institute of Technology, Santa Cruz University and two other universities. With the university's own capital, plus the gift of the Moore Foundation and other organizations, it was about a third of the money needed to build the observatory.

The construction is expected to start in 2009, and start using in 2016. The location has not been determined, but the selected locations have been delineated in Chile, Hawaii and Mexico. This glass will help scientists study the most primitive galaxies of the universe as well as the mysteries of dark energy - considered to be responsible for the rapid expansion of the universe.

With the ability to capture light 8 times the current observatory and have a better resolution than Hubble, this 30-meter telescope can also capture planets orbiting stars outside the solar system. . It will bring the universe closer to us 10 times than it is today.

Currently, 10-meter Keck glasses in Hawaii are considered the world's largest, but it is also about to " give way " to the observatory with a diameter of 10.4 meters Gran Telescopio Canarias in Spain's Canary Islands. .

The telescope is expected to build up to 30 meters in diameter.(Artwork: Discovery)

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