“BIGGEST TELESCOPE MAY SWAP CONTINENTS”

ThebThirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was due to be built in Hawaii, but ran into opposition with
indigenous groups which consideh its proposed site sacred. Now the TMT”s board says a site in the
Canary Islands, Spain, could act as a potential alternative. The $1.4bn project will enable experts to
study the early Universe and peer into the atmospheres of exoplanets . It is one of a raft of big
observatories –along with the Europeeeaaan Extremely Large telescope (E-ELT) and space-based James
Webb telescope – intended to serve astronomy into the 2020s and beyond. Cloud – fre Pcific skies, low
atmospheric water vapour and other attributes make conditions at Muna Kea , Hawaii , amog the best in
the world for astronomy. The site intended for the TMT was just below the the 4,207m summit of the
dormant volcno.

SACRED SITE
Opposition to the construction of observatories atop Mauna Kea has existed for decades. To many
Native Hawaiians, Mauna Kea is considered the most sacred of all mountains on the island, with the
special connection to their religion”s deities.So continued development is considered a desecration.But
others who are against the project cite environmental and conservation concerns. As construction was
due to begin on the project in April 2015, protestors blocked acces roads to keep crews off the site,
resulting in several arrests. But opponents were also pursuing their complaint through the courts. It
reasoned that the permit had been issued before opponents got the chancen to state their case.”Quite
simply, the board put the cart before the horse when it issued the permit,” Chief justice Mark
Recktenwald said ata the time. This meant the TMT project would have to seek a new permit if it
wanted to proceed with construction on Mauna Kea.

BACK-UP PLAN
Last week,the board of governors met to discuss progress on the TMT project in Hawaii and to
consider potential alternative locations. In a statement , Henry Yang, chair of the TMT international
observatory board,commented:”The TMT International Observatory (TIO)Board of Governors has
explored a number of alternative sites for TMT. Every site we considered would enable TMT”s core
science programmes. “After careful deliberation, the board of governors has identified Observatorio del
Rogue de los Muchacos (ORM) on La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain , as the primary laternative to
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