[ngcles]

Hi David & All,

Yes, get along to see this if you can -- it is well worth the effort. These talks are being held all over the country so get along and see one. We had one at Sydney Observatory 2 weeks ago by Bryan Gainsler and Fred Watson. This 'scope is the next big thing in Astronomy and it is very important that we get to host it (if we are selected). The short-list is down to two: Aus & NZ -v- South Africa. Technically, our bid is much superior to S.A but will that get us over the line?

100's if not 1000s of jobs will be created and it will place Australia at the very forefront of long-wavelength astronomy for decades.

The amount of data this telescope will produce is staggering -- almost beyond comprehension. It will produce nearly a billion gigabites of raw data -- ie 15 million 64Gb iPods of raw data per day. It can't be archived and stored (even accounting for Moore's law) but will have to be processed and reduced in real time and the raw data dumped. The telescope, while active, will monitor virtually the entire sky above the horizon continuously at both a resolution and depth undreamed of.

We want this telescope built here! Support it ... or else!


Best,

Les D