The philanthropic organization Schmidt Sciences announced its investment in an orbiting observatory larger than NASA’s Hubble telescope and three ground-based observatories at the American Astronomical Society’s annual winter meeting Wednesday. The observatory would be the first full-scale privately funded observatory in space, according to Schmidt Sciences President Stuart Feldman. The project aims to have all components, which will make up the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, up and running by 2030.
The Lazuli Observatory
The Lazuli Space Observatory will have an off-axis three-mirror telescope, a wide-field optical imager, a spectrograph optimized for stable spectrophotometry and a high-contrast coronagraph, a telescope attachment designed to block out direct light from stars and bright objects so scientists can observe objects that would otherwise be hidden in the glare.
A rendering of the Lazuli Space Observatory. Credit: Schmidt Sciences
According to the website, the observatory will be “designed for rapid-response observations and precision astrophysics across optical and near-infrared wavelengths.”
The telescopes will be open to scientists worldwide, and the data collected will be available in linked databases. Schmidt Sciences did not specify how much it is investing, but Feldman said the space telescope will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Eric Schmidt, the billionaire who backs Schmidt Sciences along with his wife Wendy, is a former Google CEO with a net worth of $53 billion, according to Bloomberg. Schmidt Sciences funds research on artificial intelligence, astrophysics, biosciences and climate science. The organization was founded in 2024 and aims to “work toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all,” according to its website.
The off-axis advantage
The Lazuli Observatory’s off-axis telescope differs from traditional on-axis telescopes like Hubble or the James Webb. In an on-axis telescope, the secondary mirror and its support struts sit directly in the center of the opening, blocking a portion of the incoming light and causing diffraction.
In an off-axis design, the secondary mirror is shifted to the side, causing the light to reflect off the primary mirror at an angle and ensuring the secondary mirror and struts do not block the light. This allows for a much cleaner and more concentrated point spread function, which describes how a single point of light appears after passing through the telescope’s optics.
The off-axis design reduces diffraction spikes that act like glare, making it easier for the coronagraph to block light and reveal hidden objects.
By using a three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) in an off-axis configuration, engineers can correct for three optical errors: spherical aberration, coma and astigmatism. An image from this telescope will be clearer due to the unobstructed light path and minimal glare. While on-axis telescopes are easier to build at massive scales, off-axis telescopes like the Lazuli are better for studying exoplanets as they produce cleaner images.
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