tmt general brochure

8/3/2019 Tmt General Brochure

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C O N T E N T S

02 The Story o TMT is the History o the Universe

04 Breakthroughs and Discoveries in Astronomy

08 Grand Challenges o Astronomy

12 A Brie History o Astronomy and Telescopes

14 The Best Window on the Universe

16 The Science and Technology o TMT

26 Technology, Innovation, and Science

28 Turning Starlight into Insight

On the coverArtist’s concept o the Thirty Meter Telescope. The unique domedesign optimizes TMT’s view while minimizing its size. Thelouvered openings surrounding the dome enable the observatoryto balance the air temperature inside the dome with that o thesurrounding atmosphere, ensuring the best possible image withthe telescope. Photo-illustration: Skyworks Digital



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The Thrty Meter Telescope (TMT) wll

tke us on n exctng journey o ds-

coery. The TMT wll explore the orgno glxes, reel the brth nd deth

o strs, probe the turbulent regons

surroundng supermsse blck holes,

nd uncoer preously hdden detls

bout plnets orbtng dstnt strs,

ncludng the possblty o le on these

len worlds.

T H E S T O R Y O F T M T i S T H E H i S T O R Y

O F T H E U N i v E R S E


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Photo-illustration: Dana Berry



B R E a k T H R O U g H S a N D D i S C O v E R i E S i N a S T R O N O M Y

Reserch n stronomy hs reeled

exctng detls bout our plce n the

cosmos. Through creul obsertonso objects n the Solr System, scen-

tsts were ble to unrel the true

reltonshp mong the plnets, Erth,

Moon, nd the Sun. Lter dscoeres

wth lrger nd more powerul tele-

scopes reeled tht our Solr System

ws prt o lrger glxy mdeup o bllons o strs, whch tsel ws

prt o n expndng Unerse flled

wth bllons o other glxes.


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The Orion Nebula, locatedapproximately 1,350 light-years rom Earth, is a massivecloud o dust and gas. Theimage contains more than100 proto-planetary disks,regions o active star andplanet ormation. The Thirty

Meter Telescope, with itsinrared capabilities, will beable to probe deeply intostar-orming regions to studythe conditions that lead tonew solar systems.Image courtesy of HubbleSite



B R E a k T H R O U g H S a N D D i S C O v E R i E S i N a S T R O N O M Y

6 t H I r t y m E t E r t E L E s C o P E

Big Bang and the Expansion o the UniverseAlbert Einstein’s equations o general relativitysuggested that the Universe was either expandingor contracting, an idea that Einstein initially rejected.By studying the redshit o distant galaxies, EdwinHubble ound evidence that Einstein’s initial equa-tions were correct. Hubble discovered that distantgalaxies were indeed rushing apart. This led to ourmodern understanding o cosmology and the BigBang theory. Later, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilsondetected a aint microwave “hiss” coming rom all

areas o the sky. This was the predicted aterglowo the Big Bang.

The Heliocentric Solar SystemFrom our vantage point, Earth appears to be at thecenter o a vast celestial sphere. It took centuries ocareul scientic observations to reveal that theSun is at the center o the Solar System. In the early1600s, Johannes Kepler devised a series o laws thatexplained the motion o planets around the Sun,including the act that planets travel in an ellipserather than a perect circle. A ew years later, Galileo’sobservations o the moons o Jupiter and the phases

o Venus provided supporting evidence or theheliocentric model o the Solar System. Eighty yearslater, Sir Isaac Newton showed that the motion oplanetary bodies was governed by the same orcesthat pulled objects to the Earth, validating the worko Kepler and Galileo.

Big Bang Expansion

Geocentric

Heliocentric

Moon VenusEarth Mercury Sun Mars

Infnite Stars

Saturn

Jupiter

Mars

Earth

Venus

Mercury

Sun

Moon



Buldng on brekthrough dscoeres

nd remrkble nnotons n tele-

scope desgn, stronomers he nowset ther sghts on bgger questons

nd more chllengng reserch.

Today’s cutting-edge telescopes, however, are reaching their limitsas they probe urther into space in an eort to nd the aintest stars

and observe the most distant galaxies.

To continue this journey o exploration, engineers, astronomers,

and project specialists are working to build the Thirty Meter Telescope

(TMT), the highly anticipated, next-generation observatory or the

astronomical community. With TMT, we will study the Universe as never

beore, nding answers to many o the grand challenges o science.

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This Hubble Deep Field imagecovers a speck o the skyonly about the width o a dimeas seen 75 eet away, yetit contains more than 1,000galaxies at various stageso evolution. The individualobjects, however, appearpixilated and blurry. TMT,with its greater resolution and

sensitivity, will image objectslike these in stunning clarity,revealing new details andprompting new discoveries.


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Can the rst stars and galaxies tell us how ourgalaxy came to be?By studying the most distant galaxies, TMT also willbe peering back in time to when the Universe wasmuch younger and the ormation o stars in galaxieswas much more spectacular than it is today. Bystudying the Universe when it was just a raction o itscurrent age, astronomers hope to understand thehistory o galaxy ormation and how the earlieststructures evolved into spectacular spirals like our

own Milky Way.

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Will dark energy shape how the Universe will end?For decades, astronomers assumed that the expan-sion o the Universe was slowing. Scientists studyingdistant galaxies and supernovae were surprisedto discover, however, that the Universe is actuallyexpanding aster and aster. Astronomers havenamed this unknown orce “dark energy.” By studyingthe most distant objects, astronomers hope TMTwill shine more light on this mysterious repulsiveorce, how it aects normal matter, and what partit will play in the ultimate ate o the Universe.

What and where is dark matter?All the matter we can see in the Universe is not nearlyenough to keep galaxies rom fying apart or to bindclusters o galaxies together. Astronomers believethat there is another invisible “dark matter” that

suuses the cosmos in a web-like scaolding,providing the gravity and mass necessary to give theUniverse its shape. The greater sensitivity o TMTwill enable astronomers to better map the distributiono dark matter and uncover clues to its composition.


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How do supermassive black holes infuence theevolution o galaxies?Imagine a place where giant stars swarm at antasticspeeds around an invisible point millions o timesmore massive than our Sun. That turbulent region has

actually been ound at the center o our galaxy.Recent studies with the Keck 10-meter telescopehave revealed stars racing around what we nowknow to be the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole.With TMT, astronomers will be able to study tentimes the number o stars currently seen and learnmore about the chaotic environment near one o theUniverse’s most extreme objects.

Once highly speculative, there is now over-whelming evidence or the existence o blackholes—innitely dense objects that warp space so

severely that nothing, not even light, can escapetheir grasp. Lurking at the center o the Milky Wayand perhaps all other galaxies are black holesmany millions o times more massive than the Sun.

Is there lie elsewhere in the Universe?I the same conditions that gave rise to lie on Earthexisted on other planets, then the Universe could beteeming with lie. Directly detecting lie would beextremely challenging, but TMT will be able to detectplanets within a star’s “habitable zone,” where liquidwater could exist. TMT also will be able to study thechemical make-up o alien atmospheres to see i they

could support lie as we know it.

How do dust and gas become stars and planets?Stars and planets orm out o vast clouds o dust andgas. For reasons we don’t ully understand, areas othese clouds begin to collapse under gravity, ormingprotoplanetary disks, the inant stage o new solarsystems. Astronomers will use TMT to determinewhen these clouds orm stars, their masses, andwhat raction has planetary systems.



a B R i E F H i S T O R Y O F

a S T R O N O M Y a N D T E l E S C O P E S

From Glleo Glle’s frst stunnng

dscoeres bout our solr system

to Edwn Hubble’s detecton o theexpnson o the Unerse, new

technologes he ped the wy to new

knowledge. TMT wll crry on ths

legcy, whch stretches bck more

thn 400 yers.



W W W . t m t . o r G

1 6 0 8Lens maker Hans Lippersheyis credited with making therst telescopes.

1 6 0 9Galileo was among the irstpeople to use the telescopeor studying the heavens,discovering the moons oJupiter,mountainsandcraterson Earth’s Moon, and thephaseso Venus.

1 6 6 8Isaac Newton is credited withbuilding the rst practicalrefector telescope.

1 6 1 1Johannes Kepler proposesadvantages o using twoconvex lenses in a telescope.

1 6 7 2The Cassegrain relectortelescope was designed byLaurent Cassegrain.

1 7 3 3Chester Moore Hall producestherst achromaticlens orareracting telescope,helpingto correct or the dierentreractive properties odierent wavelengthso light.

1 7 8 9William Herschel creates the49 inchrefecting telescope.

1 8 4 5LordRosse’s72-inchNewtonianrefectingtelescope,knownasthe Leviathan o Parsonstown,was the rst to discover thespiral orm o galaxies (thenknown as nebulae).

1 8 9 7The 40-inch reractor lens orthe Yerkes Observatory isdeveloped. It is the largestreractor lens created.

1 8 8 8The Lick Observatory and its36-inch reractor telescopebecomes the rst mountaintopobservatory.

1 9 0 8The 60-inch refector telescope is built atop Mount Wilson nearPasadena, Caliornia.

1 9 3 3Fritz Zwicky, by analyzingDoppler velocities in the Comagalaxy cluster, proposes theexistence o “dark matter”as providing the gravitationalorcenecessarytohold galaxyclusters together.

1 9 3 7Grote Reber built the irstradio telescope and used it orthe rst systematic surveyo radio waves rom the sky.

1 9 4 8The200-inchHale refectoratMount Palomarachieved “rstlight,”becomingthe world’spremierobservatory,andcontinuestoproduceimportantscienticresults.

1 9 6 4ArnoPenziasandRobertWilsondetect the predicted cosmicmicrowave backgroundradiation, providingoverwhelming support orthe Big Bang theory.

1970Vera Rubin, working with KentFord, nds evidence or darkmatter in the unexpectedlyhigh orbital velocity o stars inthe outer reaches o spiralgalaxies.

1 9 9 0The Hubble Space Telescopeis launched.

1 9 7 9The Canada-France-Hawaiilocated on Mauna Kea inHawaii becomes operational.

1 9 9 9The Japanese Subarutelescope begins operationson Mauna Kea.

1 9 9 8The European Very Large Telescope array (VLT) achieves irstlight.The VLTconsistso ourUnit Telescopeswith mirrors8.2 meters in diameter and our movable 1.8 meter diameterAuxiliary Telescopes.

2 0 0 0The twin multinational Gemini telescopes, one on Mauna Kea, theother on Cerro Pachón in Chile become operational.

2 0 0 0The Astronomy andAstrophysicsSurveyCommitteerecommendsas itshighestpriorityground-basedinitiativeorthisdecade,constructionoa30-meteraperture GiantSegmentedMirrorTelescope.

2 0 0 3Project partnership amongCaltech, the University oCaliornia, and the Associationo Canadian Universities orResearch in Astronomy iscreated to design and builda 30-meter class, segmentedmirror telescope.

a B R i E F H i S T O R Y O F a S T R O N O M Y a N D T E L E S C O P E SImages: Bell Labs,Andrew Dunn,European Southern Observatory,Gemini Observatory,KeckObservatory, VadimKurland, LickObservatory, ToddMason, Matthew Mew,NRAO/AUI,Subaru Observatory

1 9 1 7Also atop Mount Wilson, theamous100-inchHookertelescopeis built.Itis withthisinstrumentthatEdwinHubblediscoversthatthe nebulaestudiedbyLord Rosse areactually separate galaxies,apartromour MilkyWay.

1 9 1 8The 1.8 meter PlaskettTelescopeis commissionednearVictoria,BritishColumbia.

1 9 9 8Twoseparategroupshuntingdistant supernovae discoveredseveralthatwere dimmerthanthey were supposed to be,suggestingthatthe expansionotheUniversewas accelerating.

1 9 3 3Karl Jansky discovers radiowaves emanating rom thecentero theMilky WayGalaxy.

1 9 9 3Thersto thetwinKeckTelescopes,whichpioneeredthesegmentedmirror design, began scientiic observations on Mauna Kea inHawaii; Keck II began observations in 1996. Jerry Nelson, whopioneered Keck’s design, is now the project scientist or the ThirtyMeter Telescope.

2 0 0 9TMTselectsMaunaKeaasthepreerredsite orthetelescope,completes its design anddevelopmentphase,andmovesinto early construction.

P r E s E n tTMT begins ull-scale polishing o the 1.4-meter mirror blanks thatwillmakeup theprimarymirror,anddevelopsmanyo theessentialprototype components or the telescope.



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T H i R T YM E T E Rt E L E s C o P E

F U L L S U I T E O Fi N S T R U M E N T S

F U L L y I n t E G r A t E D

L A s E r G U I D E s t A r

a D a P T i v Eo p t i c s

M a U N a K E a

H a w a i is E L E C t E D A sP r E F E r r E D s I t E



U N L O C K I N G N e W

F R O N T i E R S



T H E B E S T w i N D O w O N T H E U N i v E R S E

To cpture the shrpest mges nd

produce the best scence, stronomers

need more thn n extrordnrytelescope; they lso need n eqully

extrordnry locton wth just the

rght tmospherc qultes.

Ater a rigorous ve-year campaign that spanned the entire globe,

TMT scientists ound such a site, Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano

in Hawaii that rises nearly 14,000 eet above the surace o the

Pacic Ocean.

This site, which is above approximately 40 percent o Earth’s

atmosphere, has a climate that is particularly stable, dry, and cold.All o which are important characteristics or clear seeing.

This mountain in Hawaii is also home to some o today’s most

powerul telescopes, including the Gemini North Telescope, the

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the Subaru Telescope, and TMT’s

orerunners the twin Keck telescopes.



Sunset at Mauna Kea witha dome o one o theobservatories shown insilhouettes against acinder cone. Photo courtesy of Keck Observatory

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T H E S C i E N C E a N D T E C H N O l O g Y O F T M T

Tody’s cuttng-edge telescopes re

mkng strtlng dscoeres bout

new plnets, nterctng glxes, ndthe ncredbly powerul deth throes

o supermsse strs t the edge o the

obserble Unerse. To mntn ths

exctng pce o dscoery, stronomers

nd engneers re pushng the bound-

res o tody’s technology whle

smultneously cretng the nnotonstht wll mke TMT the most dnced

nd cpble telescope on Erth.



Photons rom space rain downon Earth much the same waythat rain alls to Earth.Faint, distant objects gentlydrizzle photons, while brightnearby objects provide adeluge o light. The biggerthe aperture, or mirror

o a telescope, the morephotons it can collect.Photo-illustration: Todd Mason



TMT, with its 30-meter (nearly 100-oot) diameter mirror, will have

nine times the light-gathering power o today’s best telescopes.

When compared to the Hubble Space Telescope, TMT will have 156

times the collecting area and more than 10 times its resolution at

certain wavelengths.

TMT will use a segmented primary mirror, which was successully

pioneered on the Keck telescopes. This design is essential orextremely large telescopes. A single 30-meter diameter mirror would

be too large to build and transport. TMT’s smaller segments, less than

two meters across, can be more easily made, transported, and

replaced i necessary.

T H E S C i E N C E a N D T E C H N O l O g Y O F T M T : S E G M E N T E D M I R R O R S

Evolution o the Primary Mirror

A larger primary mirror enables a telescope to see ainterobjects and to create an image with much ner detail.

TMT’s 30-meter, 492 segment mirror

Keck’s 10-meter, 36 segment mirror

Palomar’s 200-inch single mirror

Photo-illustration: Todd Mason



The enclosure or TMT is a unique design and it will be the rstitem to be built on Mauna Kea. The foor upon which the telescopestructure will be mounted is larger than 10 tennis courts.Photo-illustration: Todd Mason



T H E S C i E N C E a N D T E C H N O l O g Y O F T M T : I N F R A R E D

20 t H I r t y m E t E r t E L E s C o P E

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Wavelengthin centimeters

Frequency

10-4 10-610-810-1010-12 110-2

1014

GHz1012

GHz1010

GHz108

GHz104

GHz102

GHz100GHz

1GHz

X-raysGamma Rays UV Visible Infrared

To nd the earliest galaxies, probe stellar nurseries, and image

planets as they are orming, astronomers need to see beyond visible

light and into the realm o the inrared.

Inrared is the portion o the spectrum just beyond the red we see

with our eyes. It is where many o TMT’s key science questions will

be answered.

As light rom the most distant galaxies travels billions o light-years across the expanding Universe, it becomes stretched, or shited,

to longer, redder wavelengths. The TMT will be able to see and study

this inrared light, which will help us better understand the origin and

evolution o the Universe.

Inrared light, with its longer wavelengths, can also more easily

pass through murky interstellar clouds. This will enable the TMT tolook in on the birth o stars and the ormation o planets.



The Electromagnetic SpectrumThough astronomical images reveal important andoten stunning eatures, much o the science welearn comes rom studying the light and analyzingthe spectrum o an object. That is why each oTMT’s rst light instruments will be equipped witha spectrometer.

Like a prism, spectrometers separate light intoits dierent colors or wavelengths. Inormationgained by studying the unique signatures o thesespectra will enable astronomers to probe the struc-

ture and composition o the interstellar medium, thechemistry o stars and galaxies, and even measurecosmic distances by observing how ar that light hasbeen red-shited due to the expansion o the Universe.

The spectrum o our Sun (below) was generated by data recordedat Kitt Peak National Observatory. The dark lines indicateabsorption o certain wavelengths o light by chemical elements

within the Sun. Similar techniques can be used to detect chemicalelements present in other stars.Image credit: N.A. Sharp, NOAO/NSO/ Kitt Peak FTS/AURA/NSF

100 104 106 108 1010 1012

10MHz

100kHz

10Hz

0.1Hz

1kHz

Radio

Image source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory


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Earth’s atmosphere is like a vast ocean, with waves, currents, and

layers o dierent density. Turbulence in this ocean o air bends and

blurs light that passes through it, giving stars their distinctive twin-

kling appearance. Though captivating when looking at the night sky,

this twinkling severely limits the quality o astronomical observations.

TMT’s adaptive optics system will correct or this blurring, revealing

stars and galaxies as crisply as i the telescope were in space.The telescope will do this by shining lasers high into Earth’s atmo-

sphere to create articial “guide stars.” By continuously monitoring

these points o light, the TMT will measure the turbulence o the

atmosphere in real time. The telescope will then counter the blurring

by making hundreds o microscopic adjustments each second

to a small, pliable mirror. The result will be a sharper image andbetter science.

T H E S C i E N C E a N D T E C H N O l O g Y O F T M T : A D A P T I V E O P T I C S

C o n t r o l s y s t e m

Deormablemirror

Light romtelescope

Distortedwaveront

Beamsplitter

Correctedwaveront

Waverontsensor

High-resolutioncamera

The Deormable Mirror, Waveront Sensor, and Control Systemperorm real-time corrections to the atmospheric distortions.Image source: Stark/Ellis with Caltech Digital Media Center; image:

Sandbox Studio; Uranus images: Michael Bolte and Keck Observatory

The planet Uranuswithout adaptive optics

The planet Uranuswith adaptive optics


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Gemini North adaptive optics image o Jupiter and its two redspots (which appear white because this is a near-inrared image;in visible light they appear reddish). By using adaptive optics, thisimage rom the ground rivals the quality o images rom space.



T H E S C i E N C E a N D T E C H N O l O g Y O F T M T : T H R E E I N S T R U M E N T S

Mirror Path 1

TMT’s Light Path Conguration

Mirror Path 2

In many ways, TMT will be a vastly more powerul version o an amateur

refecting telescope. Light rom distant objects will be collected and

concentrated by a primary mirror (mi Pah 1). The light will then

travel to a secondary mirror (Mirror Path 2), which will refect it back

down to a third mirror (mi Pah 3). From there, however, the simi-

larity ends as TMT’s light will be directed—not to an eyepiece—but to

an adaptive optics system and a powerul suite o scientic instrumentslocated around the telescope (Mirror Path 4). This special congu-

ration will make TMT very nimble, allowing astronomers to do more

science in less time.

When the TMT begins its research mission, it will have three very

powerul scientic instruments. These “rst-light” instruments,

which include two inrared spectrometers and one optical spectrom-eter, will provide unparalleled science and imaging capabilities,

taking ull advantage o TMT’s sensitivity and resolution.



TMT's First LightInstruments

Wide Field OpticalSpectrometer (WFOS)will study and make imageso objects in visible light

Inrared ImagingSpectrometer (IRIS)will study and make imageso objects in exquisite detailas they appear in inrared light

Inrared Multi-objectSpectrometer (IRMS)will analyze inrared light rommany objects simultaneously

Mirror Path 3 Mirror Path 4


Photo-illustrations: Dana Berry



T E C H N O l O g Y , i N N O v a T i O N , a N D S C i E N C E

The Thrty Meter Telescope wll tke

dntge o the most successul tech-

nologes rom tody's most dncedtelescopes. These technologes nclude

dpte optcs, segmented prmry

mrror, nd three stte-o-the-rt

scentc nstruments t rst lght,

cretng superor tool or scence.


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T U R N i N g S T a R l i g H T i N T O i N S i g H T

in the comng decdes, TMT wll

explore the gret mysteres o the

Unerse: blck holes t the center oglxes, ssembly o the frst glxes

nd ther eoluton, brth nd deth

o strs, nd plnets round dstnt

strs. Howeer, the most ntrgung my

be the questons we cnnot oresee.

it s by probng the unknown tht TMT

wll rech ts ull potentl, tkngstronomers nd the publc on new

journeys o explorton.



The Thirty Meter Telescope Project is an international partnershipamong the Caliornia Institute o Technology, the Universityo Caliornia, and the Association o Canadian Universities orResearch in Astronomy, joined by the National AstronomicalObservatory o Japan, the National Astronomical Observatorieso the Chinese Academy o Sciences, and the Department o Scienceand Technology o India.

acnoedements

TMT grateully acknowledges support or design and development

rom the ollowing: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, CanadaFoundation or Innovation, Ontario Ministry o Research andInnovation, National Research Council o Canada, Natural Sciencesand Engineering Research Council o Canada, British ColumbiaKnowledge Development Fund, Association o Universities orResearch in Astronomy, and the National Science Foundation (USA).

Copyright © 2010 TMT Observatory Corporation

Image: HubbleSite

D e s i g n a n d t y p o g r a p h y : S a n d b o x S t u d i o ,

C h i c a g o



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