填空题.Eyes to the Skies Getting Bigger观望太空的眼睛越睁越大 A telescope arms race is taking shape around the world. Astronomers are drawing up plans for the biggest, most powerful instruments ever constructed, capable of peering far deeper into the universe—and further back in time—than ever before. The building boom, which is expected to play out over the 21 decade and cost billions of dollars, is being driven by technological 22 that afford unprecedented clarity and magnification. Some scientists say it will 23 much like switching from regular TV to high-definition. In 24 , the super-sized telescopes will yield even finer pictures than the Hubble Space Telescope, 25 was put in orbit in 1990 and was long considered superior 26 its view was freed from the distorting effects of Earth' s atmosphere. 27 now, land-based telescopes can correct for such distortion. Just the names 28 many of the proposed observatories suggest an arms 29 : the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope, 30 was downsized from the OverWhelmingly Large Telescope. Add to those three 31 ground observatories a new super eye in the sky, NASA's James Webb 32 Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2013. With these proposed giant 33 , astronomers hope to get the first pictures of planets outside our 34 system, watch stars and planets being born, and catch a glimpse 35 what was happening near the birth of the universe. "We know 36 nothing about the universe in its early stages," said Carnegie Observatories 37 Wendy Freedman, who chairs the board that is building the Giant Magellan 38 . "The GMT is going to see in action the first 39 , the first galaxies, the first supernovae, the first black holes to 40 ." When scientists look at a faraway celestial object, they are seeing it as it existed millions and millions of years ago, because it takes so long for light from the object to reach Earth.