Thirty meter telescope project12/23/2023 ![]() As of July 2023, there were no specific timelines or schedules regarding new start or completion dates. ![]() Several alternative sites for the Thirty Meter Telescope have been proposed. In October 2018, the Court approved the resumption of construction however, no further construction has occurred due to continued opposition. The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the TMT project, but the Supreme Court of Hawaii invalidated the building permits in December 2015, ruling that the board had not followed due process. In 2015, Governor David Ige announced several changes to the management of Mauna Kea, including a requirement that the TMT's site will be the last new site on Mauna Kea to be developed for a telescope. When construction of the telescope was set to resume, construction was blocked by further protests each time. The telescope has government-level support from several nations.ĭemonstrations attracted press coverage after October 2014, when construction was temporarily halted due to a blockade of the roadway. The TMT will be at the highest altitude of all the proposed ELTs. The TMT is designed for near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared (0.31 to 28 μm wavelengths) observations, featuring adaptive optics to assist in correcting image blur. Due to its light-gathering power and the optimal observing conditions which exist atop Mauna Kea, the TMT would enable astronomers to conduct research which is infeasible with current instruments. Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Caltech began development of a design that would eventually become the TMT, consisting of a 492-segment primary mirror with nine times the power of the Keck Observatory. interests, seeking to see it built within the decade. The US National Academy of Sciences recommended a 30-meter (100') telescope be the focus of U.S. In 2000, astronomers considered the possibility of a telescope with a light-gathering mirror larger than 20 meters (65') in diameter, using either small segments that create one large mirror, or a grouping of larger 8-meter (26') mirrors working as one unit. Scientists have been considering ELTs since the mid 1980s. The TMT would become the largest visible-light telescope on Mauna Kea. Locals protested those previous telescope projects, though the intensity of opposition has increased in the case of the enormous TMT.The Thirty Meter Telescope ( TMT) is a planned extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become controversial due to its location on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaiʻi. The problem is that Mauna Kea is a cultural and religious landmark for many Hawaiians, and building these telescopes is akin to sacrilege. ![]() It’s the ideal location for astronomy, which is why a dozen other telescopes have already been built there in the past. Telescope backers want to build on top of Mauna Kea because the atmosphere there is thin and mostly cloudless, and the location is far from any cities or other major light sources. Scientists could get clear pictures of the most distant galaxies, discover planets orbiting other stars, and potentially solve some of the universe’s deepest mysteries, such as the identity of dark matter. That sprawling reflector would help astronomers see further and clearer than ever before, letting them peer back to the earliest stages of the universe. The entire telescope complex would stand 18 stories tall and take up almost an acre and a half. Its namesake colossal mirror, measuring 30 meters in diameter, would make it larger than any other visible-light telescope ever built. The Thirty Meter Telescope was first proposed in 2003, with initial plans coming together in 2009. ![]()
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