An enormous 30m telescope has begun construction atop the volcanic peak of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. After years of planning and discussions, construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) started on October 7th, but the first light to enter the lens will not be until 2022.
The enormous telescope will provide astronomers with unparalleled power, offering ten times the resolution of the Hubble. It is designed for near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared light.
The 30 meter diameter is made up of 492 small hexagonal mirrors that serve as part of the telescope’s new “adaptive optics” system. The results of these readings then govern a pair of deformable mirrors which adjust many times a second to cancel out the atmospheric turbulence.
Local people however are not happy with the location of the telescope as they believe that the slopes of the volcano are sacred and that nothing should be built on top of them.
The hexagonal mirror configuration is a new one to me. Very clever.