What is the Mauna Kea protest 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 …

Why are Native Hawaiians protesting against a telescope?

Amid the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus and the respiratory disease it causes, called COVID-19, native Hawaiians who oppose construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop the dormant Maunakea volcano have reduced their presence on the Hawaiian mountainside.

Why Do Hawaiians oppose TMT?

There are a number of reasons for this opposition, including concerns about environmental damage, concerns about the use of the land by the observatories essentially rent-free, and most importantly, Mauna Kea’s status as a sacred site to the indigenous Hawaiian people.

Why are people against the TMT?

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.

Why should TMT be built on Mauna Kea?

Located above approximately 40 percent of Earth’s atmosphere, the site at Maunakea has a climate that is particularly stable, dry, and cold; all of which are important characteristics for capturing the sharpest images and producing the best science.

Why is Mauna Kea so important?

Mauna Kea is sacred to the Native Hawaiians and is the zenith of their ancestral ties to creation. It is the home of Na Akua (divine deities) and Na’Aumakua (divine ancestors) as well as the meeting place of Papa (Earth Mother) and Wakea (Sky Father) who are progenitors of the Hawaiian people.

Is the telescope being built on Mauna Kea?

As TMT Works To Build On Mauna Kea, Two Telescopes Are Coming Down. The Hoku Kea UH teaching telescope and the 10-meter Caltech Submillimeter Observatory would be the first modern observatories on Mauna Kea to be decommissioned — meaning no other telescopes will take their place.

Why do astronomers want to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea?

Due to its light-gathering power and the optimal observing conditions which exist atop Mauna Kea, the TMT would enable astronomers to conduct research which is infeasible with current instruments. …

What type of EM waves does the thirty meter telescope use?

What is TMT? TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope) is a next generation optical-infrared extremely large telescope with an aperture of 30 meters currently under development.

What type of EM waves does the Thirty Meter Telescope use?

Where will the TMT be built?

Mauna Kea
As TMT Works To Build On Mauna Kea, Two Telescopes Are Coming Down. More telescopes are expected to be decommissioned according to a plan that seeks to do a better job of managing the mauna.

What happened at the Thirty Meter Telescope protests?

Thirty Meter Telescope protests. Mauna Kea is considered the most sacred mountain of Native Hawaiian religion and culture. Protests began locally within the state of Hawaii on October 7, 2014 but went global within weeks of the April 2, 2015 arrest of 31 people who had blockaded the roadway to keep construction crews off the summit.

What is the Thirty Meter Telescope?

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a proposed extremely large, segmented mirror telescope, planned for the summit of Mauna Kea. It is now the focal point of further development of the observatory site, with a current ongoing legal battle in the Hawaii court system.

What is the TMT project controversy?

In response to the controversy, the TMT has also written a website which they believe addresses many of the concerns about the project. For Kealoha Pisciotta, the president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, which opposes building the telescope, the issues go beyond the ones which the TMT project has presented.

What is the TMT telescope?

The TMT, a $1.4 billion ground-based, large segmented mirror reflecting telescope grew from astronomers’ prioritization in 2000 of a thirty-meter telescope to be built within the decade. Mauna Kea was announced as TMT’s preferred site in 2009.