Developing the most powerful optical telescope on earth

THIRTY METER TELESCOPE

When completed, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii will be among the largest, most advanced and powerful optical telescopes on Earth.

A primary mirror 30 meters in diameter – made up of 492 hexagonal mirror segments – will permit the telescope to focus more sharply (12 times sharper than what is achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope) and collect more light than smaller telescopes, allowing images of fainter objects. This will enable astronomers to study objects in our own solar system and stars throughout our Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies, and to monitor forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable Universe.
RLB prepared an independent cost estimate for the fabrication and erection of the rotating enclosure for the TMT Observatory Corporation.