A consortium of American and Canadian universities and foundations, after a year of study, has chosen the 13,800-foot summit of Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, rather than the Cerro Armazones mountain, in Chile, as the site of a $1.2-billion project to build the world's largest telescope.
The project, known as the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, is due to begin construction by 2011 and be completed by 2018. The telescope's primary mirror, housed inside a 180-foot-tall dome, will have nine times the collecting area of the two 10-meter Keck Telescopes on Mauna Kea, which are currently the world's largest optical and infrared telescopes.
The main partners on the TMT project are the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and an association of Canadian universities known as Acura. The University of Hawaii at Hilo oversees use of the site. The selection of Mauna Kea, while backed by Hawaii labor groups anticipating construction jobs, faces opposition from some environmental and Native Hawaiian groups that may pursue a court challenge.
Comments
1. wmaqphd - July 23, 2009 at 10:03 am
what's wrong with "reusing, recycling" the facility in Arecibo, PR?
2. uibranch - July 27, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hello wmaqphd, The choice was between the top of Hawaii and high in the Chilean Andes (but not Arecibo near the Puerto Rican coast), for two basic reasons. 1. Optical telescopes like the TMT work best at high elevations, to be above most of the atmosphere. That way star images are much more steady; less "twinkle". 2. Both the top of Hawaii and northern Chile are deserts. Few clouds, hence few observation days scrubbed on account of weather. Arecibo is a wet jungle area, at rather low elevation, so has heavy and frequent cloud cover. Nobody wants to build an optical telecope there. The huge dish-shaped telescope now at Arecibo is a radio (not optical) telescope, which is immune to (can see right through) clouds. That is why it went to Arecibo while the TMT goes to Hawaii. Dave R.