The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT)
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1 The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) Richard Ellis, Steele Professor and California Institute of Technology TMT Board member Michael Bolte, Director, University of California Observatories and TMT Board member
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The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT). Richard Ellis, Steele Professor and California Institute of Technology TMT Board member Michael Bolte, Director, University of California Observatories and TMT Board member. Why a Thirty Meter Telescope?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT)
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The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT)
Richard Ellis, Steele Professor and California Institute of Technology TMT Board member
Michael Bolte, Director, University of California Observatories and TMT Board member
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Why a Thirty Meter Telescope?
The decadal survey of astronomy carried out by the US National Academy of Sciences called for a thirty meter class telescope as the highest priority large ground-based project in astronomy for the next decade– To be built by a partnership of private and public sponsors– To be operating to overlap the observing by the James Webb
Space Telescope, its highest priority space-based project
The Canadian Long-Range Plan for Astronomy had similar goalsA thirty meter telescope will have 144 times the light collection area and 12 times sharper resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope
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TMT Project Scope
Costs– The current cost estimate for the project is $750M (US, 2005)– $25M - $30M annual operating expense– Ongoing development budget TBD– $64M Design Development Phase (DDP) is underway
Schedule– Construction start date: 2009– “first light” date: 2015– Facility lifetime: ~ 50 years
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The TMT Partnership
Current partners (for Design Development Phase) are:– University of California (UC) – Caltech – ACURA (Canada)– AURA (NSF)
UC and Caltech designed, built and operate two 10-meter telescopes at the Keck Observatory in HawaiiDesign Development Phase (DDP)
– Currently $64M (US) is available from the Moore Foundation, Canada, and the US NSF to support the DDP
– Goal is Preliminary Design of facility, risk (technical and fiscal) reduction to level of 25% overall contingency
TMT Board of Directors is actively seeking additional partners
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Public-Private Partnership
UC and Caltech have successfully raised private funds for construction of their various observatories (Keck, Palomar, Lick, …)Private fund-raising for the TMT construction is high priority in the campaigns of UC and CaltechCanada is committed to raising 25% of both capital and operations costsIn order to prepare credible construction proposals, we need to identify the source of operations funds in the next 12 monthsA new partner that could contribute $5M - $10M per year to operations would be very welcome
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TMT Site
Require a superb astronomical site for the TMT– Dark skies– Stable atmosphere above the site– Large fraction of clear nights
A five-year effort of the TMT Project Site team is underway to characterize potential sites
Robotic data collection underway at 3 sites in Chile, San Pedro Martir (Mexico), and Mauna Kea
The most comprehensive (and ambitious) astronomical site survey work ever
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TMT Site Selection Process
Quality of the sites for carrying out astronomy research is crucial to the final selectionAdditional factors will also be considered such as:– construction cost differentials– operations costs differentials– site permitting schedule and uncertainties– arrangements with site host for share of telescope time– shared infrastructure development costs– Potential for partnership based on contributions to construction
or operations
Site testing will continue through Mar 07, final site recommendation to the Board in Mar 08
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Mexico as a Partner
Mexico is a welcome partner given its record of leading world-class astronomical facilities
By joining TMT, Mexico gains immediate access to world’s biggest optical/IR telescope
Opportunities for UNAM to contribute to state of the art instrumentation including adaptive optics
Outreach opportunities bringing young people into science and technical fields
Builds on success of Gran Telescopio Milimetrico: world-class research facility with Mexico-US collaboration
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Contact Information
Ed Stone, Chair, Board of Directors, Thirty-Meter Telescope ProjectCalifornia Institute of Technology, Downs-218Pasadena, CA 91125+1 626 395 [email protected]
Gary Sanders, Project Manager, Thirty-Meter Telescope Project1200 East California Boulevard, MC 102-8Pasadena, CA 91125 USA+1 626 395 [email protected]
Richard Ellis, Board of Directors, Thirty-Meter Telescope ProjectCalifornia Institute of Technology,Astronomy 105-24Pasadena, CA 91125+1 626 295 [email protected]
Michael Bolte, Board of Directors, Thirty-Meter Telescope ProjectUniversity of California ObservatoriesUC Santa Cruz, ISB-375Santa Cruz, CA 95064+1 831 459 [email protected]
Further information: http://www.tmt.org/
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Backup Slides
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TMT Science Highlights
Detection and characterization of extra-solar planets
Star and planetary system formation and evolution
The initial epoch of star and galaxy formation and subsequent early evolution of galaxies
The growth of supermassive black holes in the Universe
Observational tests of fundamental physics
New discovery space
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SPM questions
Permitting process, timeline and risks
Construction costs specific to SPM
Operations costs specific to SPM
Arrangements for partnership with UNAM, Mexico and Baja California
Astronomical “weather” compared to other sites
![[79.03] The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/56816850550346895dde5500/7903-the-thirty-meter-telescope-tmt-project.jpg)
![[79.03] The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project Gary H Sanders for the TMT Project Partnership AAS 205th Meeting, San Diego Providing Access to U.S. Astronomers.](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/56649ddd5503460f94ad4dea/7903-the-thirty-meter-telescope-tmt-project-gary-h-sanders-for-the-tmt.jpg)
