Big Science and the Universe: mega-projects in astronomy

Abstract Astronomy studies the constituents of the Universe and seeks to understand physics at the largest scales. The Universe is the ultimate big physics laboratory – we can observe but not influence. Today Astronomy is a cooperative, international field of ‘Big Science’. Our largest telescopes cost billions of dollars. Each telescope has systems specialised in detecting signals from one part of the electromagnetic spectrum or alternatively, in responding to particle streams or gravitational wave phenomena.