TMT 30 Metre Telescope: Oral arguments set for December 2013

Oral arguments are scheduled to begin Dec. 13 for a legal case challenging Hawaii's decision to grant a permit for the construction of the world's largest optical telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea.

Opponents of the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) appealed a Board of Land and Natural Resources decision to the Third Circuit Court in Hilo in May.

The petitioners say they want to force the board to uphold its public trust duties to protect Hawaii's natural and cultural resources as traditional and customary Hawaiian practices depend on these resources.

Kealoha Pisciotta, the president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, an organization of Native Hawaiian traditional and cultural practitioners of Mauna Kea, said the question is whether the rules allow more development that would have an adverse and significant impact on the mountain's land and waters. She said the "answer is no."

The board has a "duty to uphold the public trust and has clearly abused this trust," Pisciotta said in a statement.

The plaintiffs filed an opening brief for their appeal last Thursday.

The project to build the telescope was started by the University of California, California Institute of Technology and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy.

Observatories and institutions in China, India and Japan have since signed on as partners.

Thirty Meter Telescope Corp. hopes to begin construction in April 2014 and start operations in 2021.

The telescope's segmented primary mirror would be nearly 100 feet or 30 meters long. TMT says this will give its telescope nine times the collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today—the twin W.M. Keck telescopes built on Mauna Kea in the 1990s.

The telescope would be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the sun and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed.

It would also help scientists see some 13 billion light years away for a glimpse into the early years of the universe.

TMT: Thirty Metre Telescope

Artist's rendering of Thirty Meter Telescope

With the signing last week of a "master agreement" for the Thirty Meter Telescope—destined to be the most advanced and powerful optical telescope in the world—the University of California and UCLA moved a step closer to peering deeper into the cosmos than ever before.

The agreement, signed by UC President Mark Yudof and several international partners, formally outlines the telescope project's goals, defines the terms of its construction and establishes its governance structure, design and financing.

Work on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), named for its 30-meter primary mirror—three times the diameter of the largest existing telescopes—is scheduled to begin in April 2014 atop Hawaii's dormant Mauna Kea volcano. The TMT's scientific operations are slated to start in 2022.



UCLA researchers will play a significant role in the development and use of the TMT, which will enable astronomers to study stars and other objects throughout our solar system, the Milky Way and neighboring galaxies, and galaxies forming at the very edge of the observable universe, near the beginning of time.

The project is a collaboration among universities in the United States and institutions in Canada, China, India and Japan, with major funding provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Andrea Ghez

"UCLA is taking a lead role in defining the science for this monumental, international project," said Andrea Ghez, a professor of physics and astronomy who holds UCLA's Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics.

Ghez, who has served on the TMT science advisory committee since its first meeting 13 years ago, described the master agreement as an important milestone for the UC system, UCLA and the field of astronomy.

"One reason why we want to build TMT is to delve into the most fundamental workings of our universe," she said. "It is truly amazing to think about what TMT will teach us about the universe."

Artist's rendering of Thirty Meter Telescope