Lots of weird marketing speak on here for an astronomical observatory. “Modular design that leverages economies of scale” what? These are telescopes, not telephones. There’s a very small amount of scientific grade ones in existence and they are all different.
> what? These are telescopes, not telephones. There’s a very small amount of scientific grade ones in existence and they are all different.
Have you not been following modern satellite and telescope bus architectures? Both planet and spacex have been using this model to great effect over the last decade.
The level of negativity in these comments is surprising. We can certainly debate whether billionaires should exist at all, but given that they do, here’s one who’s putting his money towards advancing cutting edge science instead of buying a third mega yacht. I am strongly in favor.
I agree with you. I clicked into this hoping to hear what new things we could learn or discover with the new observatories. Commenting on the more positive and informative side would be a better use of time and energy I think :)
Interesting. Wayne Rosing (Silicon Valley pioneer and early engineering lead at Google) has been working on a global telescope project for a long time now also.
The broader availability of data from astronomical observations starts to become relevant in the present time of coding agents that can help hobbyists.
Bezos is one of the best, though? Blue Origin, the Long Now foundation, and I could go on all day. I don't know of too many other billionaires so willing so spend vast sums on the Heinleinian dreams of their youth.
From the website:
“The Lazuli Space Observatory is a 3-meter–class space-based astronomical facility designed for rapid-response observations and precision astrophysics across optical and near-infrared wavelengths.”
And we wall should be happy he doesn’t want to put a swarm of micro telescopes into the sky to mimic his approach for the ground based telescopes.
The last thing astronomy needs is even more satellite constellations polluting the night sky.
But that's objectively not true unless you're just trolling or being sarcastic? The cost and reach of ground based systems still has a considerable amount of use, still have many projects of those types ongoing. There's been a ton of great work on things like adaptive optics and laser guides have been excellent breakthroughs in extending that reach.
Lots of weird marketing speak on here for an astronomical observatory. “Modular design that leverages economies of scale” what? These are telescopes, not telephones. There’s a very small amount of scientific grade ones in existence and they are all different.
Best of luck to them anyway.
Edit: it looks like the Argus array at least is a project out of Chapel Hill. Better info here: https://argus.unc.edu/specifications
Schmidt probably helping fund it.
> what? These are telescopes, not telephones. There’s a very small amount of scientific grade ones in existence and they are all different.
Have you not been following modern satellite and telescope bus architectures? Both planet and spacex have been using this model to great effect over the last decade.
Neither of those companies are producing astronomical telescopes as far as I can tell.
As you can see by the name of the thing, they are married
Tell that to Bill and Melinda.
At the time the foundation was formed, they were married
Likely Schmidt's repentance for his unbridled Burning Man trips.
Not sure why that's relevant. But if that's interesting then it's probably also relevant that it's an open marriage.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/lifestyle/article-13439603/eric-...
Besides the quality of the source, that's been slightly overtaken by more recent events:
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-11-20/former-goo...
The level of negativity in these comments is surprising. We can certainly debate whether billionaires should exist at all, but given that they do, here’s one who’s putting his money towards advancing cutting edge science instead of buying a third mega yacht. I am strongly in favor.
Schmidt has done more damage than he ever will undo with his philanthropy.
And one yacht should be enough, especially if it is like this:
https://luxurylaunches.com/transport/eric-schmidt-and-his-wi...
I agree with you. I clicked into this hoping to hear what new things we could learn or discover with the new observatories. Commenting on the more positive and informative side would be a better use of time and energy I think :)
> The level of negativity in these comments is surprising
Maybe not so surprising:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46512881 "65% of Hacker News posts have negative sentiment, and they outperform" (2026-01-06, 456 comments)
Interesting. Wayne Rosing (Silicon Valley pioneer and early engineering lead at Google) has been working on a global telescope project for a long time now also.
https://lco.global/
Ben you still have code running here.
Ha, thanks for letting me know! I hope it's not causing too many problems out there :-)
The broader availability of data from astronomical observations starts to become relevant in the present time of coding agents that can help hobbyists.
The age of plausibly buying a legacy is gone, so these vanity projects inspire more cynicism than anything else.
I am not understanding how this is bad. Other than a guy made a bunch of money and is spending it how he wants. Or is that the whole reason?
> a guy made a bunch of money
Through the systemic abuse and exploitation of countless individuals' privacy and autonomy. The context is everything.
The 'how' matters.
Right now he's mostly spending it on weapons and AI to control people
> Other than a guy made a bunch of money and is spending it how he wants.
A guy has woken up to the fact that he'll be remembered as a villian and is trying to whitewash his reputation.
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Well, this is better than what Bezos is using his surplus money for.
You don't support trying to save the planet?
The Bezos Earth Fund: https://www.bezosearthfund.org/
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Bezos is one of the best, though? Blue Origin, the Long Now foundation, and I could go on all day. I don't know of too many other billionaires so willing so spend vast sums on the Heinleinian dreams of their youth.
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It's a shame they're taking advice from leading astro project groups about the globe rather than yourself.
Still, I'm suprised to hear from you that the Lazuli Space Observatory will apparently operate from ground level.
From the website: “The Lazuli Space Observatory is a 3-meter–class space-based astronomical facility designed for rapid-response observations and precision astrophysics across optical and near-infrared wavelengths.”
And we wall should be happy he doesn’t want to put a swarm of micro telescopes into the sky to mimic his approach for the ground based telescopes.
The last thing astronomy needs is even more satellite constellations polluting the night sky.
Satellites are only visible when it's dark on the ground but sunlight at their orbit. Which is for a short time around sunset and sunrise.
During the actual night sky, you don't see satellites.
As civilization moves into space, it will have to be visible! Imagine if cities were only allowed it they were invisible. Let's not be this stupid!
That said, I'm sure a lot can be done to minimize reflections using paint and materials.
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But that's objectively not true unless you're just trolling or being sarcastic? The cost and reach of ground based systems still has a considerable amount of use, still have many projects of those types ongoing. There's been a ton of great work on things like adaptive optics and laser guides have been excellent breakthroughs in extending that reach.