07-27-2016, 02:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by pahoated
TMT is in it for the competition. They were ahead to becoming King of the Mauna but OBE (overtaken by events). It really is the last dinosaur of ground based optical telescopes. The thickness of the atmosphere is ultimately too limiting as well as the 12-hour viewing time. The cost of launch has dropped unexpectedly so space telescopes are looking much more appealing. The old paradigm of needing gigantic highly polished mirrors is going by the wayside. There is more penetration of space with X-ray and gamma rays. The space based telescopes are robotic and can scan thousands of targets far faster than a human deciding what to look at.
Not getting TMT here is kind of a wash. There are significant discoveries from the existing observatories on Mauna Kea and all that makes the news is the location. If you read further, there will be the team participants and none are living in Hawaii. Observatories are just data gathering stations now, the data processing work is going on elsewhere. More data, more jobs for analysts, but not more jobs for Hawaii. TMT really needs to drop the jobs angle. That was the angle used in the 60's and it never panned out. There is some local construction work in the beginning but the actual astronomy work goes to multinational PhD's, not Hawaii island locals. Wonder how long TMT will stick it out?
Ugh. So many things wrong here.
TMT will be observing in the northern hemisphere with a unique view of the sky. There is no site better than Maunakea for this, it's not about some fictitious competition. It is definitely not a dinosaur of any type. Astronomy is also about "instrumentation". The problem with space based telescopes is they cost about 10x more or about 10x less size...and more importantly you can not change the instrumentation on a space based telescope. It is also not a gigantic mirror, it is segmented like the Keck pioneered.
X-ray and gamma rays are a completely different category of research from optical research, you can't compare the two directly.
Yes current telescopes are still relevant however time on the TMT will be highly sought after because of its resolution, accuracy and power. There's no comparison. Things discovered by older generation telescopes will all look to the TMT and new generation telescopes to explore and verify. Thinking the TMT is "a wash"...haha.
Many locals work in the telescope programs. Subaru just published numbers showing 42% of their telescope staff is from Hawaii. There are astronomy students FROM Hawaii who have expressed their desire to remain here in Hawaii and support the TMT. Not to mention the UH also has time on the telescope for students.