Astronomy Links
Written by Administrator on February 24, 2011.
TMT - Thirty Meter Telescope
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned ground-based astronomical observatory with a 30-meter (98-foot) diameter segmented mirror capable of observations from the near-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared (0.31 to 28 μm). Anadaptive optics system will correct for image blur caused by the atmosphere of the Earth. At wavelengths longer than 0.8 μm, this correction will enable observations with ten times the spatial resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope. TMT will be more sensitive than existing ground-based telescopes by factors of 10 (natural seeing mode) to 100 (adaptive optics mode). If completed on schedule, TMT will be the first of the new generation of Extremely Large Telescopes. The telescope cost was estimated in 2009 to be $970 million to $1.2 billion.
Mauna Kea Observatory
The Observatories at Mauna Kea, (MKO), are an independent collection of astronomical research facilities located on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai'i, USA. The facilities are located in a 500-acre (2.0 km2) special land use zone known as the "Astronomy Precinct," which is located in the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. The Astronomy Precinct was established in 1967 and is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture.
The location is ideal because of its dark skies, good astronomical seeing, low humidity and position above most of the water vapor in the atmosphere, clean air, good weather and almost equatorial location. The University of Hawai'i manages the site and leases land to several multi-national facilities which have invested more than $2 billion in science and technology.
The altitude and isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Mauna Kea one of the best locations on earth for ground-based astronomy. It is an ideal location for submillimeter, infrared and optical observations. The seeing statistics show that Mauna Kea is the best site in terms of optical and infrared image quality—for example the CFHT site has a median seeing of 0.43 arcseconds.
Accommodations for research astronomers are located at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy (often called Hale Pōhaku), 7 miles by unpaved steep road from the summit at 9300 feet (2835 m) above sea level. An adjacent visitor information station is located at 9200 feet (2775 m). The summit of Mauna Kea is so high that tourists are advised to stop at the visitor station for at least 30 minutes to acclimate to atmospheric conditions before continuing to the summit, and scientists often stay at Hale Pōhaku for 8 hours or more before spending a full night at observatories on the summit, with some telescopes requiring observers to spend one full night at Hale Pōhaku before working at the summit.
Mauna Loa Observatory
Since 1956 Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) has been monitoring and collecting data relating to atmospheric change, and is known especially for the continuous monitoring of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), which is sometimes referred to as theKeeling Curve. The observatory is under the Earth System Research Laboratory which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The latest observation of CO2 concentrations from MLO can be found at web sites along with data from other sites, and trends at Mauna Loa. The MLO levels can compared with other sites in the global monitoring network.
MLO has activities at five locations on the Big Island. The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory shares this site. The administration and some data processing are done in the Hilo, Hawaii office. Kulani Mauka is a rain collection site. Cape Kumukahi is a flask sample site located on the eastern-most point of Hawaii. At the Hilo airport weekly balloon-born instruments are prepared and launched to measure ozone from the surface to usually over 30 km. The observatory site is also a temporary home to a cosmic microwave background observatory called AMiBA.
Mauna Loa was originally chosen as a monitoring site because, located far from any continent, the air sampled is a good average for the central pacific. Being high, it is above the inversion layer where most of the local effects are present. There was already a rough road to the summit built by the military. The contamination from local volcanic sources is sometimes detected at the observatory, and is then removed from the background data.
