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Article: Hubbard gift buys `U' part of big eye on the sky; Donation will provide access to the world's mightiest telescope.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- January 11, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Once, state-of-the-art astronomy at the University of Minnesota meant the ancient telescope that pokes out of an observatory on top of the Tate Laboratory of Physics in Minneapolis.
But today, as scientists peer into the belly of the universe, they need big telescopes. Really big, as in needing their own building. Think of 20-ton mirrors as wide as a singles tennis court, so delicately polished that they're accurate within 1/2000 the thickness of a human hair.
Now, courtesy of a $5 million donation from Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., the university's Department of Astronomy has access to such a telescope, and the bragging rights that go with it.
On ...