The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a plan to build the world’s largest and most powerful optical telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii by California and Canadian universities. The plan has got approval from the Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources clearing the way for the group managing the Thirty Meter Telescope project to negotiate a sublease for land with the University of Hawaii.
The massive Thirty Meter Telescope will be able to image objects 13 billion light years away, near the beginning of time. The telescope would be able to observe planets outside our solar system and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed.
The Thirty Meter Telescope will have a primary mirror of 492 segments measuring some 100 feet across. It will have the power to image objects 13 billion light years away, near the beginning of the universe. The telescope's segmented primary mirror will give it nine times the collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today. Its images will also be three times sharper.
Construction of the next-generation observatory will begin next year and is expected to cost over $1 billion. The University of California system, the California Institute of Technology and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy are leading the project. China, India and Japan have signed on to be partners.
But the telescope may not hold the world's largest title for long. A group of European countries plans to build the European Extremely Large Telescope, which will have a 138-foot long mirror when it begins operations in 2021 in Chile.
The massive Thirty Meter Telescope will be able to image objects 13 billion light years away, near the beginning of time. The telescope would be able to observe planets outside our solar system and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed.
The Thirty Meter Telescope will have a primary mirror of 492 segments measuring some 100 feet across. It will have the power to image objects 13 billion light years away, near the beginning of the universe. The telescope's segmented primary mirror will give it nine times the collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today. Its images will also be three times sharper.
Construction of the next-generation observatory will begin next year and is expected to cost over $1 billion. The University of California system, the California Institute of Technology and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy are leading the project. China, India and Japan have signed on to be partners.
But the telescope may not hold the world's largest title for long. A group of European countries plans to build the European Extremely Large Telescope, which will have a 138-foot long mirror when it begins operations in 2021 in Chile.
