The Thirty Meter Telescope
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a proposed Very Large Optical Telescope. Details and updates regarding the TMT project can be found via the CASCA/ACURA TMT Advisory Committee (CATAC) and the TMT International Office.
The TMT is designed to study the Universe through both visible and infrared light. Following the success of existing large segmented-mirror telescopes, the TMT’s primary mirror will consist of 492 hexagonal glass segments that each measure approximately 1.44 meters across, resulting in 30-m total aperture. In order to make good use of this massive mirror and perform high-resolution photometry and spectroscopy, the TMT will rely on cutting-edge adaptive optics (AO) technology developed at the National Research Council (NRC) in Canada.
With its impressive light-amassing potential, high-resolution capabilities, and planned suite of cutting-edge instruments, the TMT will make it possible to study the farthest reaches of the Universe, studying the evolution of galaxies, stars, and blackholes from today to the “dark ages”, when the first sources of light were formed. The TMT is also designed to characterize exoplanets, and may lead to the first detections of biosignatures beyond Earth.
An astronomical facility the size and caliber of the TMT is designed to answer many fundamental questions across a wide range of astrophysical fields including:
Fundamental Physics & Cosmology
Early Universe, Galaxy Formation and the Intergalactic Medium
Supermassive Black Holes
Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
Stars, Stellar Physics and the Interstellar Medium
Formation of Stars and Planets
Exoplanets and the Search for Life
Our Solar System
Time Domain Science
