China and India have signed on to be partners for a project to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, which will be the world's largest when it's finished in 2018, at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii
100-foot-wide optical telescope is nine times bigger than ones in use todayWill pick out objects 13 billion light years away
Sharp enough to pick out planets orbiting distant suns
China and India are catapulting to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join as partners in a Hawaii telescope that will be the world’s largest when it’s built later this decade.
China and India will pay a share of the construction cost - expected to top $1 billion - for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time. It’s the first advanced telescope in which either nation has been a partner.
‘This will represent a quantum leap for the Chinese community,’ Shude Mao, professor of astrophysics at National Astronomical Observatories of China, said.
The Thirty Meter Telescope’s segmented primary mirror, which will be nearly 100 feet long, will give it nine times the light-collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today.
Its images will also be three times sharper.
The telescope, known as TMT, will be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the sun and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed. It should also help scientists see some 13 billion light years away for a glimpse into the early years of the universe.
‘Many things are manufactured in China, but we want to move up in terms of technology. We want to catch up as fast as we can. We also want to make contributions to world peace,' said Professor Shude Mao
China joined as an observer in 2009, followed by India the next year. Both are now partners, with representatives on the TMT board. Japan, which has its own large telescope at Mauna Kea, the 8.3-meter Subaru, is also a partner.
TMT may not hold the title of world’s largest for long, however, as a partnership of European countries plans to build the European Extremely Large Telescope, which would have a 42-meter, or 138-foot, mirror.
Mao said Chinese astronomers would likely want to use TMT to study the origin of planets outside our solar system, black holes, dark matter and dark energy.
China has leading theoretical astrophysicists, but it lags in the field of observational astronomy, Mao said. The telescope will help China overcome that.
‘China is ambitious in terms of its science goals. Really it wants to catch up as fast as we can,’ he said.
Mao said the project will also be valuable for the image China broadcasts to the world.
‘There are many things that are manufactured in China, but we want to move up in terms of technology,’ he said. ‘We also want to make contributions to world peace. TMT offers a great opportunity to do this.’
All astronomers, wherever they are from, look at the same sky, he said.
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