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 groundbased 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 goals
A 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
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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:
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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 Hawaii
Design 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 Caltech
Canada is committed to raising 25% of both capital and
operations costs
In order to prepare credible construction proposals, we
need to identify the source of operations funds in the
next 12 months
A 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 selection
Additional factors will also be considered such as:
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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: worldclass research facility with Mexico-US collaboration
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Contact Information
Ed Stone, Chair, Board of Directors, Thirty-Meter Telescope Project
California Institute of Technology, Downs-218
Pasadena, CA 91125
+1 626 395 8321
ecs@srl.caltech.edu
Gary Sanders, Project Manager, Thirty-Meter Telescope Project
1200 East California Boulevard, MC 102-8
Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
+1 626 395 2997
sanders@tmt.org
Richard Ellis, Board of Directors, Thirty-Meter Telescope Project
California Institute of Technology,Astronomy 105-24
Pasadena, CA 91125
+1 626 295 2598
rse@astro.caltech.edu
Michael Bolte, Board of Directors, Thirty-Meter Telescope Project
University of California Observatories
UC Santa Cruz, ISB-375
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
+1 831 459 2991
bolte@ucolick.org
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
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