Boldly Going, But Should We?: The Next Generation of Extremely Large Telescopes

Astronomy has at different times been driven by engineering advances, scientific goals, and political maneuvering. The next generation of telescopes, Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) are propelled by all three. With increased diameters leading to decreased resolution limits, these instruments will be able to see farther and resolve objects that are closer together than ever before. In this paper we explore what it takes to make a telescope with a diameter on the scale of 30 meters, how Kolmogorov turbulence in the atmosphere impacts observations, and how astronomers combat the atmosphere using adaptive optics coupled with careful location selection. We conclude by acknowledging the complex social dynamics that come with telescopes of this size, and ponder their place in the future of ground-based astronomy