How many telescopes can we have?

From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sun Feb 18 2001 - 23:41:36 MST


Well, if we assume that we dedicate all of the aluminium in
the solar system (~6.6x10^23 kg) to reflective collecting
area 600 nm thick (the minimum according to experts at the
Univ. of Arizona Mirror Lab), that gives you 4.1x10^26 m^2
of collecting area. That equates to a disc with a diameter
of ~150 AU (*way* outside Pluto's orbit) or a sphere (looking in
all directions) that has a radii of 38 AU (roughly Pluto's orbit).

In practical terms, this translates into 43 trillion telescopes
the diameter of the moon.

So, even if you had a million years to channel surf, you
you only get about a 0.7 sec/channel to make up your mind
whether or not it is worth watching...

So many channels, so little time.

Robert



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