With the cooperation of the United States, India, Japan, China, and Canada, the Thirty Meter Telescope broke ground on Oct. 7 to start construction. The multi-national project will cost $1.4 billion and will be located close to the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
The TMT International Observatory is an international partnership entered into by the California Institute of Technology, University of California, Japan's National Institutes of Natural Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Astronomical Observatories. The Union Cabinet of India has approved the country's participation in the project starting in the fall while Canada will officially be on board starting spring 2015.
"This is an exciting moment as we begin construction of TMT. Its giant mirror, nearly 100 feet across, promises the highest definition views of planets orbiting nearby stars and the first stars and galaxies in the distant universe," said Edward Stone, TIO executive director, at the grounbreaking.
Standing at 30 meters tall, the TMT will allow astronomers to look into space and observe heavenly bodies 13 billion light years away. Given its light condensing capability, the TMT can identify an object around the size of a coin even at distances equivalent to about 311 miles.
A telescope with high light-condensing capability will be able to look for stars that are farther away from the Earth or simply aren't as bright as the others in the galaxy. The oldest observed star was born around 800 million years after the Big Bang event. With the help of the TMT, astronomers will be able to observe stars born between 200 million and 400 million years after the Big Bang. The TMT even holds the possibility of identifying planets outside of the solar system that may be capable of supporting life with Earth-like atmospheres.
Why Mauna Kea as a location?
The dormant volcano will be able to provide ideal conditions for using the TMT. For starters, at a height of nearly 13,800 feet, the telescope will be getting clear, deep views of the sky for most days of the year. Viewing conditions will also be generally clear because Hawaii has low levels of air pollution. As the volcano is located in an isolated spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, scientists also won't have to worry about light pollution. For the telescope itself, the dry air and minimal fluctuations in temperature will be great for maintaining the TMT's structural quality.
The TMT is scheduled to be completed by 2022.
