In this episode the exocast team discuss how we observe exoplanets from the ground, how different it is from space, where we put the telescopes and why.

The team start by sharing their journeys to telescopes around the world to make observations, and discuss the different bands in the atmosphere that we observe in. The main difference between ground- and space-based observatories is their size, the instruments on some of the ground-based observatories are room sized beasts with precise thermal and pressure conditions maintained over year timescales. Some of the biggest mirrors in the world are found in our great observatories like SALT (South African Large Telescope), and GCT (Grand Canary Telescope), with adaptive optics and segmented mirrors building the latest generations of Extremely Large Telescopes. And ponder the question: will the era of the ground-based telescopes being larger than space-based telescopes ever end?

Some links you might find interesting:

ESO (European Southern Observatory) – Image above: La Silla observatory waking at dusk credit: Y. Beletsky (LCO)/ESO

Vera-Rubin Observatory

Radio telescope concept built on the moon

You can check out this months other podcast Exocast-54c where the team talk through the latest in exoplanet literature with some “juicy” discussions.

And remember you can join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com