The Most Advanced and Powerful Optical Telescope on Earth Will Be Completed Later This Decade
Mar 3, 2011; 3:19 PM ET
AccuWeather Astronomy Facebook Fanpage member Daniel Vogler recently pointed out to me a new telescope that is planned to be built in Hawaii. When completed, this telescope is expected to be 12 times stronger than the Hubble telescope! It is going to be 30 meters wide, have 492 separate, 1.45 meter mirror segments and has a 20 arcminute field of view. It will integrate the latest technology in precisions control, segmented mirror design, and adaptive optics.
The Thirty Meter Telescope ( called TMT) will enable astronomers to study in-depth objects in our own solar system, stars throughout our galaxy (the Milky Way), other nearby galaxies, and forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable universe, near the beginning of time. The nonprofit TMT Observatory Corporation was founded in June 2003 by its partners: the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), the University of California (UC), and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This corporation's goal was to plan, develop and install this very special telescope.
As we speak in Pasadena, California, a team of scientists, engineers, and project specialists are busily planning and designing what eventually will become the most advanced and powerful optical telescope on Earth. The scientific community is expecting big things out of this group of talented people and I do not think they will disappoint.
Please follow the progress of this telescope on facebook by clicking here.
Please join the AccuWeather Astronomy fanpage by clicking here. You can leave your comments there as well and be part of a discussion on this or any other astronomy subject.
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