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What's next? 00:00:04:21,00:00:07:17, In Arizona, the first mirror|has been cast for the 00:00:07:18,00:00:09:15, Giant Magellan Telescope. 00:00:09:16,00:00:12:22, This huge instrument will be|built at the Las Campanas 00:00:12:23,00:00:14:14, Observatory in Chile. 00:00:14:15,00:00:18:06, Its seven mirrors, each well|over eight metres across 00:00:18:07,00:00:21:10, will be arranged like|the petals of a flower. 00:00:21:11,00:00:24:10, And together they will capture|more than four times the 00:00:24:11,00:00:27:25, amount of light any|current telescope can catch. 00:00:28:01,00:00:32:11, The Californian Thirty Meter|Telescope, planned for 2015 00:00:32:12,00:00:35:07, is more like a giant|version of Keck. 00:00:35:08,00:00:38:14, Hundreds of individual segments|make up one enormous mirror 00:00:38:15,00:00:42:18, as tall as a six-storey|apartment. 00:00:42:19,00:00:47:13, In Europe, plans are ready for a|European Extremely Large Telescope. 00:00:47:25,00:00:51:09, At 42 metres in diameter 00:00:51:10,00:00:54:21, its mirror will be as large as an Olympic swimming pool - twice the surface area of the 00:00:54:22,00:00:57:01, Thirty Meter Telescope. 00:00:57:02,00:01:01:15, These future monsters, optimised|for infrared observations, will 00:01:01:16,00:01:06:09, all be outfitted with sensitive|instruments and adaptive optics. 00:01:06:10,00:01:09:01, They should reveal the very|first generation of galaxies 00:01:09:02,00:01:12:08, and stars in the history|of the Universe. 00:01:12:09,00:01:15:08, Moreover, they may provide|us with the first true picture 00:01:15:09,00:01:18:09, of a planet in another|solar system. 00:01:18:10,00:01:22:05, For radio astronomers,|42 metres is peanuts. 00:01:22:06,00:01:24:23, They hook up many smaller|instruments to synthesise 00:01:24:24,00:01:27:07, a much larger receiver. 00:01:27:08,00:01:30:25, In the Netherlands, the Low|Frequency Array, or LOFAR 00:01:31:01,00:01:32:18, is under construction. 00:01:32:19,00:01:38:01, Fibre optics will connect 30 000|antennas to a central supercomputer. 00:01:38:02,00:01:41:16, The novel design has no moving|parts, but it can observe in 00:01:41:17,00:01:45:01, eight different directions|simultaneously. 00:01:45:02,00:01:48:08, LOFAR technology will probably|find its way into the Square 00:01:48:09,00:01:50:20, Kilometre Array, which is|now topping the wish-list 00:01:50:21,00:01:52:19, of radio astronomers. 00:01:52:20,00:01:56:21, The international array will be|built in Australia or South Africa. 00:01:56:22,00:02:00:19, Large dish antennas and small|receivers will team up to provide 00:02:00:20,00:02:05:03, incredibly detailed views|of the radio sky. 00:02:05:04,00:02:08:23, And with a total collecting area|of one square kilometre, the 00:02:08:24,00:02:12:16, new array will be by far the|most sensitive radio instrument 00:02:12:17,00:02:15:03, ever constructed. 00:02:15:04,00:02:20:06, Evolving galaxies, powerful quasars,|blinking pulsars 00:02:20:07,00:02:23:25, no single source of radio waves will|be safe from the spying eyes 00:02:24:01,00:02:26:24, of the Square Kilometre Array. 00:02:26:25,00:02:30:12, The instrument will even look|for possible radio signals from 00:02:30:13,00:02:34:01, extraterrestrial civilisations. 00:02:34:02,00:02:37:09, And what about space? 00:02:37:10,00:02:41:06, Well, after its fifth and final|servicing mission, the Hubble Space 00:02:41:07,00:02:46:17, Telescope will be on active|duty until 2013 or so. 00:02:46:18,00:02:50:23, Around that time, its|successor will be launched. 00:02:52:23,00:02:56:23, Meet the James Webb Space|Telescope, a space infrared 00:02:56:24,00:03:02:17, observatory named after|a former NASA administrator. 00:03:02:18,00:03:07:01, Once in space, its 6.5 metre|segmented mirror unfolds 00:03:07:02,00:03:10:17, like a blooming flower - one|seven times as sensitive 00:03:10:18,00:03:13:14, as Hubble's. 00:03:13:15,00:03:16:18, A large sunshade keeps the|optics and the low-temperature 00:03:16:19,00:03:20:04, instruments in permanent shadow,|allowing them to operate near 00:03:20:05,00:03:25:05, a whopping minus|233 degrees Celsius. 00:03:26:09,00:03:30:02, The James Webb Space Telescope|won't orbit the Earth. 00:03:30:03,00:03:33:21, Instead, it will be parked 1.5|million kilometres from our 00:03:33:22,00:03:38:02, planet, in a wide orbit|around the Sun. 00:03:38:03,00:03:41:07, Half a century ago, the Hale|telescope on Palomar Mountain 00:03:41:08,00:03:43:04, was the largest in history. 00:03:43:04,00:03:47:08, Now, an even bigger one will be|flying into the depths of space. 00:03:47:08,00:03:51:16, We can only speculate about the|exciting discoveries it will make. 00:03:51:17,00:03:53:22, Stay tuned! 00:03:54:08,00:03:57:02, Meanwhile, creative engineers|come up with revolutionary 00:03:57:03,00:03:59:23, designs for new|telescopes all the time. 00:03:59:24,00:04:04:06, In Canada, scientists have built a|so-called "liquid mirror telescope". 00:04:04:07,00:04:07:10, In this kind of telescope the|starlight is reflected not by 00:04:07:11,00:04:11:14, a solid mirror but rather by|the curved surface of a rotating 00:04:11:15,00:04:14:20, reservoir of liquid mercury. 00:04:14:21,00:04:18:14, Because of their design, mercury|telescopes can only look straight up, 00:04:18:15,00:04:21:08, but their advantage is|that they're relatively cheap 00:04:21:09,00:04:23:14, and easy to build. 00:04:23:15,00:04:26:16, Radio astronomers want to put|a LOFAR-like array of small 00:04:26:17,00:04:29:14, antennas onto the surface of|the Moon, as far away as 00:04:29:15,00:04:33:02, possible from terrestrial|sources of interference. 00:04:33:03,00:04:35:18, Who knows, one day there|might even be a big optical 00:04:35:19,00:04:38:14, telescope on the far|side of the Moon. 00:04:38:15,00:04:41:14, And using space telescopes|and occulting disks, X-ray 00:04:41:15,00:04:44:04, astronomers hope to improve|their eyesight tremendously 00:04:44:05,00:04:45:06, in the future. 00:04:45:07,00:04:47:23, They may even succeed in|imaging the very edge 00:04:47:24,00:04:49:24, of a black hole. 00:04:51:18,00:04:54:19, One day, the telescope may|answer one of the most profound 00:04:54:20,00:05:01:01, questions puzzling humanity:|are we alone in the Universe? 00:05:04:16,00:05:08:00, We know that there are other|solar systems out there. 00:05:08:02,00:05:10:12, We suspect there are even|planets like Earth, with 00:05:10:14,00:05:12:10, liquid water. 00:05:12:12,00:05:13:10, But 00:05:13:12,00:05:15:16, is there life? 00:05:16:12,00:05:20:08, Locating such extrasolar|planets proves difficult. 00:05:20:10,00:05:22:22, They are often hidden from|astronomers by the intense 00:05:22:22,00:05:26:04, light radiated by|their mother stars. 00:05:27:02,00:05:30:06, Interferometers launched into|the darkness of space may 00:05:30:08,00:05:32:24, provide a novel answer. 00:05:32:24,00:05:35:18, Right now NASA is considering|a project called the 00:05:35:18,00:05:38:08, Terrestrial Planet Finder. 00:05:38:10,00:05:42:22, And in Europe, scientists are|designing the Darwin Array. 00:05:42:24,00:05:46:14, Six space telescopes orbit|the Sun in formation. 00:05:46:16,00:05:50:18, Lasers control their mutual distances|to the nearest nanometre. 00:05:50:18,00:05:54:10, Together they have incredible|resolving power, cancelling out 00:05:54:10,00:05:58:06, the light from overbearing stars|so scientists can actually see 00:05:58:08,00:06:02:00, Earth-like planets|around other stars. 00:06:02:20,00:06:07:02, Next astronomers must study|the light reflected by the planet. 00:06:07:04,00:06:12:04, It carries the spectroscopic|fingerprint of the planet's atmosphere. 00:06:12:04,00:06:15:12, Who knows, in 15 years time|we may detect the signatures 00:06:15:12,00:06:17:20, of oxygen, methane and ozone. 00:06:17:22,00:06:21:00, The signposts of life. 00:06:23:04,00:06:25:18, The Universe is full of surprises. 00:06:25:20,00:06:28:04, The sky never ceases to impress. 00:06:28:06,00:06:31:04, No wonder that hundreds of|thousands of amateur astronomers 00:06:31:04,00:06:33:18, across the globe go out|every clear night to marvel 00:06:33:20,00:06:35:10, at the cosmos. 00:06:35:10,00:06:37:18, Their telescopes are much|better than the instruments 00:06:37:20,00:06:39:04, used by Galileo. 00:06:39:04,00:06:42:20, Their digital images even surpass|the photographic images taken 00:06:42:20,00:06:45:24, by professionals just a|few decades ago. 00:06:46:00,00:06:49:10, Astronomers' quest for cosmic|understanding, their telescopic 00:06:49:10,00:06:52:24, exploration of the Universe,|is only 400 years old. 00:06:52:24,00:06:57:06, There's still a lot of uncharted|territory out there. 00:06:57:18,00:07:01:02, We've come a long way since|Galileo began charting the heavens 00:07:01:04,00:07:04:10, with his telescope|four centuries ago. 00:07:04:10,00:07:07:16, Today we still observe the|Universe with telescopes 00:07:07:16,00:07:13:00, not only from Earth but in|the limitless regions of space. 00:07:13:02,00:07:16:18, The seed of humanity lies in|our seemingly endless supply 00:07:16:20,00:07:19:22, of ingenuity and curiosity. 00:07:19:24,00:07:22:14, We have just begun answering|some of the greatest 00:07:22:14,00:07:24:16, questions conceived. 00:07:24:16,00:07:27:08, We have charted over 300|planets around other stars in 00:07:27:08,00:07:31:10, our own Milky Way and located|organic molecules on planets 00:07:31:10,00:07:34:24, around far flung stars. 00:07:34:24,00:07:39:16, These incredible discoveries may|seem like the zenith of human exploration, 00:07:39:17,00:07:43:18, but the best is|undoubtedly yet to come. 00:07:43:20,00:07:46:16, You too can join the discoverers. 00:07:46:16,00:07:51:10, Look up and wonder.