The proposed lunar telescope for optical and infrared astronomy aims at very large aperture, 600 m², at a fundable cost. It comprises an array of 18 separate telescopes, each of 6.5 m aperture. The 200 m diameter array will be located within 1/2° (15 km) of a lunar pole on approximately level ground, with a perimeter screen deployed to provide shade and cooling to cryogenic temperature. The 500 m diameter screen will allow unobscured access down to 8° elevation. All 18 telescopes will reflect light into a central beam combiner to form a single image covering wavelengths from 0.4 µm to 10 µm. The initial instrument complement will include high-resolution and multi-object spectrographs to exploit the single combined field of view of two arcminute diameter, with the diffraction limited resolution of 6.5 m aperture. Scientific applications include the search for molecular biosignatures in transiting exoplanets, and the study of galaxy evolution using red-shifted spectra to beyond z = 10. The array cost, including delivery to the Moon by SpaceX Starship for installation using lunar base infrastructure, is around $10 billion, similar to that of the 25 m² JWST. To test the concept, first a single prototype 6.5 m unit would be operated at the lunar south pole.

This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades (part 2)’.

拟议的光学和红外天文学月球望远镜的目标是非常大的孔径，600 m ²，且成本可资助。它由 18 个独立望远镜组成，每个望远镜的孔径为 6.5 m。直径 200 m 的阵列将位于月球极点 1/2°（15 km）范围内的大致水平地面上，并部署周边屏幕以提供遮荫和冷却至低温。直径 500 m 的屏幕将允许在 8° 仰角下无障碍访问。所有 18 台望远镜将把光线反射到中央光束组合器中，形成涵盖 0.4 µm 至 10 µm 波长的单一图像。最初的仪器补充将包括高分辨率和多目标光谱仪，以利用两个弧分直径的单一组合视场，以及 6.5 m 孔径的衍射极限分辨率。科学应用包括寻找凌日系外行星中的分子生物特征，以及使用超过z  = 10 的红移光谱研究星系演化。阵列成本约为100 亿美元，与 25 m ² JWST 的费用类似。为了测试这一概念，首先将在月球南极运行一个 6.5 m 原型装置。

本文是“月球天文学：未来几十年（第 2 部分）”讨论会议的一部分。