The Governing Council of the University of Toronto

Published purpose

Balloon-borne visible and near-UV telescopes can achieve a resolution over a wide field much better than can be achieved on the ground, and comparable only with space telescopes. The resolution achievable with visible light astronomical telescopes from the ground is limited by random refraction of light by the turbulent atmosphere to ~0.5” in the best conditions. Conversely, stratospheric balloon-borne telescopes, operating above 99.5% of the Earth’s atmosphere, avoid atmospheric distortions present in ground-based telescopes. The capability of the instrument to be developed by this project will be unmatched in the blue and near-UV by any current or planned observatory. This project will provide exceptional training for students in the development and operation of complex instruments in a space-like environment. The GigaBIT observatory will take images with detail comparable to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, but with a much higher sensitivity. With the development of that unique capability, Canada has the opportunity to lead the next great sky survey, with a suite of unmatched abilities: an angular resolution better than the Euclid space telescope, with depths several magnitudes deeper than its deep survey, while operating in the near UV.