THIRTY
METER TELESCOPE PROJECT – SCI & TECH
News:
Science Ministry team visits
Hawaii to take stock of international telescope project
What's
in the news?
●
Recently, an official delegation from the
Department of Science and Technology visited Mauna Kea to discuss “challenges”
to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.
Thirty
Meter Telescope (TMT):
●
It has been conceived as a 30-metre
diameter primary-mirror optical and
infrared telescope that will enable observations into deep space.
Members:
●
It is proposed as a joint collaboration
involving institutions in the U.S.,
Japan, China, Canada, and India.
Features:
●
It will be the world’s most advanced and capable ground-based optical, near-infrared,
and mid-infrared observatory.
●
It will integrate the latest innovations
in precision control, segmented mirror design, and adaptive optics.
●
At the heart of the telescope is the
segmented mirror, made up of 492 individual segments. Precisely aligned, these
segments will work as a single reflective surface of 30m diameter.
Location:
●
Mauna
Kea,
an inactive volcano on the island of Hawai’i in the United States.
Contribution
of India:
India expects to be a
major contributor to the project and will provide;
●
Hardware
(segment support assemblies, actuators, edge sensors, segment polishing, and
segment coating), instrumentation (first light instruments),
●
Software
(observatory software and telescope control systems) worth $200 million
●
The Indian
Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP) is leading the consortium of Indian
institutions that are involved with the TMT project.
●
India TMT will be jointly funded by the
Departments of Science and Technology and Atomic Energy.