Super Telescope Could Get Lift From Huge Caltech Gift.

Peering through the 10-meter Keck telescopes on Hawaii's Mauna Kea is like looking through a time machine: Astronomers can see faint and distant galaxies as they were a billion and a half years after the Big Bang.

To get closer to the origin of the universe, astronomers have their sights on developing a new 30-meter scope whose design work alone could cost tens of millions of dollars.

"If this telescope is ever built, it will almost certainly revolutionize astronomy," said Cal tech Astronomy Professor George Djorgovski.

Up until last week, even the design work for such a project was on a vague "wish list" of unfunded projects at the California Institute of Technology. It remains on that list, but its prospects have brightened, courtesy of a $600 million donation to the school by Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore, a Caltech doctorate and board member.

It was one of the handful of projects that Caltech President David Baltimore mentioned as worthy of funding in public remarks after announcement of the gift, the largest donation ever to a single university.

The donation places Baltimore and other Caltech officials in a difficult if enviable position: Despite its sheer size, the gift cannot fund all projects on the school's $2 billion wish list.

That list has been developed since Baltimore, a Nobel Prize winning biologist, assumed the presidency four years ago. Professors were asked to describe their "dream" projects, and then that information was discussed in meetings between division chairs, the provost and Baltimore.

Jerry Nunnally, Caltech's vice president of development, said the process will continue over the next few months, but the purpose will now be to set priorities for funding. "There are discussions back and forth," he said. "It's somewhat informal."

Choosing worthy projects will be made even more difficult, because unlike most large donations to universities, it has few strings attached.

Half of the $600 million will come in the form of Intel shares distributed over five years. The other half will come from his foundation over 10 years and must be spent on "mutually agreeable" projects.

Though decisions are far from being made, some projects appear to be first in line.

Provost Steven Koonin noted several standouts, all costing in the millions: instruments to better understand plate tectonics, powerful magnets that analyze brain function, and an electron microscope to study big molecules.

He also mentioned developing an undergraduate certificate program in management that could assist entrepreneurial students.

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