The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System (opens in new tab)

(schmidtsciences.org)

70 pointspppone2mo ago58 comments

58 comments

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.

reportingsjr2mo ago

> 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.

WD-422mo ago

Neither of those companies are producing astronomical telescopes as far as I can tell.

wittyusername2mo ago

As you can see by the name of the thing, they are married

halfmatthalfcat2mo ago

Tell that to Bill and Melinda.

dylan6042mo ago

At the time the foundation was formed, they were married

knorker2mo ago

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-...

jacquesm2mo ago

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...

DetectDefect2mo ago

Likely Schmidt's repentance for his unbridled Burning Man trips.

benburleson2mo ago

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/

WD-422mo ago

Ben you still have code running here.

benburleson2mo ago

Ha, thanks for letting me know! I hope it's not causing too many problems out there :-)

tectonic2mo ago

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.

jacquesm2mo ago

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...

ojo-rojo2mo ago

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 :)

omoikane2mo ago

> 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)

xqcgrek22mo ago

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/former-google-ce...

pama2mo ago

The broader availability of data from astronomical observations starts to become relevant in the present time of coding agents that can help hobbyists.

closewith2mo ago

The age of plausibly buying a legacy is gone, so these vanity projects inspire more cynicism than anything else.

motoxpro2mo ago

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?

DetectDefect2mo ago

> a guy made a bunch of money

Through the systemic abuse and exploitation of countless individuals' privacy and autonomy. The context is everything.

jacquesm2mo ago

The 'how' matters.

oulipo22mo ago

Right now he's mostly spending it on weapons and AI to control people

closewith2mo ago

> 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.

4 more replies

amelius2mo ago

Well, this is better than what Bezos is using his surplus money for.

coderjames2mo ago

You don't support trying to save the planet?

The Bezos Earth Fund: https://www.bezosearthfund.org/

1 more reply

A_D_E_P_T2mo ago

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.

1 more reply

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58 comments

WD-422mo ago

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.

reportingsjr2mo ago

> 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.

WD-422mo ago

Neither of those companies are producing astronomical telescopes as far as I can tell.

wittyusername2mo ago

As you can see by the name of the thing, they are married

halfmatthalfcat2mo ago

Tell that to Bill and Melinda.

dylan6042mo ago

At the time the foundation was formed, they were married

knorker2mo ago

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-...

jacquesm2mo ago

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...

DetectDefect2mo ago

Likely Schmidt's repentance for his unbridled Burning Man trips.

benburleson2mo ago

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/

WD-422mo ago

Ben you still have code running here.

benburleson2mo ago

Ha, thanks for letting me know! I hope it's not causing too many problems out there :-)

tectonic2mo ago

jacquesm2mo ago

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...

ojo-rojo2mo ago

omoikane2mo ago

> 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)

xqcgrek22mo ago

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/former-google-ce...

pama2mo ago

The broader availability of data from astronomical observations starts to become relevant in the present time of coding agents that can help hobbyists.

closewith2mo ago

The age of plausibly buying a legacy is gone, so these vanity projects inspire more cynicism than anything else.

motoxpro2mo ago

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?

DetectDefect2mo ago

> a guy made a bunch of money

Through the systemic abuse and exploitation of countless individuals' privacy and autonomy. The context is everything.

jacquesm2mo ago

The 'how' matters.

oulipo22mo ago

Right now he's mostly spending it on weapons and AI to control people

closewith2mo ago

> 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.

4 more replies

amelius2mo ago

Well, this is better than what Bezos is using his surplus money for.

coderjames2mo ago

You don't support trying to save the planet?

The Bezos Earth Fund: https://www.bezosearthfund.org/

1 more reply

A_D_E_P_T2mo ago

1 more reply

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