Why is there a conflict over the development of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea?

The group Mauna Kea Anaina Hou made several arguments against the development including that Mauna Kea was a sacred mountain to Native Hawaiians where many deities had lived, and that the cinder cone being proposed as the site was holy in Hawaiian tradition as a burial site for a demi-god.

Why TMT should not be built?

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) should not be built at Mauna Kea, they contend, raising issues of indigenous rights, sovereignty and environmental stewardship. Even as a child looking up from his home on the northern slope of the mountain, Mangauil recounted thinking telescopes shouldn’t be there.

Do Native Hawaiians support TMT?

Does TMT have support from the Hawaiian community? A Hawaii Poll commissioned by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in March 2018 found that 72\% of Native Hawaiian registered voters expressed support for the telescope, while 23 percent were against and 5 percent were undecided.

What is the protest on Mauna Kea about?

The Native Hawaiian photographer and activist has spent the last decade documenting and advocating for the Protect Mauna Kea movement, which is centered around stopping the planned development of a $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the mountain’s summit, a sacred space in Hawaiian tradition understood to be …

Is the Thirty Meter Telescope being built?

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is an under-construction extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become controversial due to its planned location on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaii….Thirty Meter Telescope.

Artist’s rendering of proposed telescope
Location(s)	Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, United States
Built	TBD
First light	est. 2027

Why is TMT so important?

TMT will also play a very important role in advancing our knowledge of the physical processes that lead to star and planet formation. TMT will be able to characterize and study the properties of exoplanets, leading us closer to finding out if life exists beyond the Earth.

What will we learn and study with the TMT and how does this telescope compare to other ground based telescopes?

Capabilities Provided By A Large-Diameter Telescope Sharper images allow us to see smaller objects and more detail; thus TMT will provide three times better resolution and detail than other telescopes. Many other areas of science that TMT will explore require finer spatial resolution than is currently available.

What are the benefits of the TMT for science?

TMT will integrate the latest innovations in precision control, segmented mirror design and adaptive optics. With the adaptive optics system that corrects the image distortion caused by the atmosphere, it will be able to provide images ten times sharper than the ones obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Why is the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) controversial?

Related media on Wikimedia Commons. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a proposed extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become controversial due to its planned location on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaii, land which is sacred to Native Hawaiian culture and religion.

When will construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope begin in Hawaii?

On October 30, 2018, the Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled 4-1, that the revised permit was acceptable, allowing construction to proceed. On July 10, 2019, Hawaii Gov. David Ige and the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory jointly announced that construction would begin the week of July 15, 2019.

What is the TMT International Observatory?

Now called TMT International Observatory, the group set out to design a telescope with such a massive observing mirror that it would change science forever.

Why do Native Hawaiians say no to TMT?

That’s why a subset of native Hawaiians have said no to TMT, in words and actions, for years. Some are calling the current situation an existential crisis for astronomy and for Hawaii. It’s certainly a crisis of communication for astronomers who support the project.