What a Really Big Antarctic Telescope could Achieve

Malgre sa taille modeste, le telescope de 60 cm SPIREX a produit au Pole Sud de nombreuses publications importantes, en seulement deux saisons d'operation. Quelle performance peut atteindre un telescope de 2 m, 8 m ou meme 25 m? Avec un fond de ciel infrarouge jusqu'a deux ordres de grandeur plus bas qu'aux sites temperes, et des fenetres atmospheriques plus propres, larges et stables, le plateau antarctique offre une opportunite formidable pour la prochaine generation de telescopes au sol. En plus de l'evident gain en sensibilite, le profil de turbulence atmospherique a ete mesure independamment par deux equipes. Les resultats sont en excellent accord et promettent une resolution angulaire exceptionnelle sur un large champ de vue et une suppression de speckle imbattable sur des petits champs. Est ce que la premiere detection d'une exoplanete terrestre sera obtenue par un telescope en antarctique? Si oui, quel doit etre son diametre?

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