TMT groundbreaking - live

[PaulW]

A letter in the HTH today returns to the usual theme:
"Besides, where does all this money go? Certainly not here. While $1 million a year is not chicken scratch for the average individual here in Hawaii, it’s chicken scratch when compared to the hundreds of millions earned by the TMT partners.
Maybe University of Hawaii should be providing all Hawaii students with free tuition. "

It's all about the money and who wants a piece of it. Shakedown City.

[lavalava]

money. its a hit. dont give me that goody goody bullchit.

[TomK]

Posted by snorkle:

""Right now there is far more abandoned, obsolete, technology on the mountain from the observatories compared to the visitors, but protectors and ???? are the ones who clear up the mess.""

Perhaps you might provide a list of this abandoned and obsolete technology and show how it outnumbers visitors? Otherwise, we have another Pahoated on the loose here.

[TomK]

"The telescope does have to stay stationary to make an observation[...]"

That would make observations a little tricky given the Earth rotates.

[rainyjim]

Follow the money. Always follow the money. That's what it's all about.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Astronomers have detected an exoplanet's visible-light spectrum directly for the first time ever, a milestone that could help bring many other alien worlds into clearer focus down the road.

The new observations by HARPS (which is short for High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher) provide a vital proof of concept for the new technique, which could really come into its own when employed with instruments on bigger telescopes, such as the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), researchers said.

Or perhaps the TMT?

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-li...150422.htm

[TomK]

"Or perhaps the TMT?"

Yes. The discovery was made using an ESO telescope and European astronomers. Their access to a large telescope is via ESO, which is why they mention ESO's VLT. This is an observatory currently in operation, so probably not relevant to the ELT or TMT, but both would certainly be more than capable of making such an observation.

[TomK]

rainyjim,

"Follow the money. Always follow the money. That's what it's all about."

You need to qualify your statement. I think I know what you mean, but we're not talking about some investment bank being built on Mauna Kea. This is a scientific adventure and the investment is in scientific knowledge and understanding our universe. It's an investment in encouraging our youth to learn about science and become our future teachers, engineers and scientists. The profits might come later to everyone, but this is not a project designed to make money.

[MattKarma]

I remember stepping off the plane in Honolulu from Australia, and finding that none of of the public phones at the airport were operational. Just another day in The Kingdom.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

ELT or TMT, but both would certainly be more than capable of making such an observation.

Thanks Tom. It's incredible how much has been discovered about other worlds in the past decade with existing telescopes. First exoplanets, then exoplanets with earth like conditions. Now for the first time we're capable of finding those planets with their own reflected light. Who knows what the TMT may discover with it's ability to gather three times more light than most other telescopes.

When I was a kid I still believed there were big-eyed Martians living alongside their network of canals. We've come a long way.