The key decision to place the telescope in Hawaii $ 1.4 billion for further research in the field of astronomy is delayed, leaving open the possibility that the project could be moved to Spain, the group said on Friday.
The governing Council of the project dubbed the thirty meter telescope International Observatory still wants to build a telescope to your favorite site Mauna Kea, mountain in Hawaii.
But an alternative site in the Canary Islands of Spain, is still under discussion, the Commission said in a statement after a meeting this week to discuss legal and regulatory issues plan Hawaii telescope, which can take years.
“We continue to assess the current situation, as we are working on a solution,” said ed stone, Executive Director of the Observatory.
He said he can’t make a decision on where to put a telescope, “while we have a place to go, and we don’t decide when we have a place to go is decided by the courts and agencies.”
At 30 metres (98 ft) diameter telescope to be placed on one side of Mauna Kea and is much more advanced than the world’s largest current telescopes, which measure 10 meters (32 feet) in diameter. New telescope could allow scientists to make revolutionary discoveries about black holes, extrasolar planets, celestial bodies, and even to detect signs of life on other planets.
Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on Hawaii’s highest mountain, was selected in July 2009 as the target location for the telescope after a five-year search.
Scientists called it the best site in the world for astronomy, give a stable, dry and cold climate, which allows for clear images. In the atmosphere above the mountain also provides favorable conditions for astronomical measurements, according to the website of TMT.
The island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, which is already astronomical Observatory, is a viable alternative. But scientists say that the design of the telescope must be modified to be more adaptive optics, given the mountainous terrain at a lower altitude and a different climate. This means that it will take scientists more time to achieve the same discoveries that they could have done on Mauna Kea, stone said.
On the website Hawaii became a subject of public debate and legal challenges. The researchers say it will help usher in the scientific and economic development, while opponents maintain it will damage the environment and pollute the land is considered sacred by some Hawaiians. Mauna Kea is already a number of powerful telescopes on its summit.
“Thirty years of astronomy development has resulted in a significant adverse impact on natural and cultural resources of Mauna Kea,” said Kealoha Pisciotta, President of Mauna Kea Anaina HOU, a native, native Hawaiian groups on the issues of environmental protection. “Trying to build more would add to the cumulative effect.”
On Thursday, the Hawaii Senate approved a bill prohibiting new construction on the summit of Mauna Kea, and included a number of checks and other requirements before a ban can be lifted. But the leaders said that they have no plans to move the bill. The democratic speaker of the house Scott Saiki told the Honolulu Star-advertiser that “the bill is dead on arrival in the house.”
There are also two appeals in the Supreme Court of Hawaii. One of the problems with the permission to sublet and land, issued by the Hawaii Board of land and natural resources. The other was delivered by a native Hawaiian man who said that the use of the land violates his right to exercise cultural practices and, thus, the right to a hearing.
The telescope project is a collaboration between the universities in the United States and California, including the University of Hawaii and national scientific and research institutes of Japan, China and India.
“It’s a privilege of practical astronomy on Mauna Kea, and we are not happy where we are now,” Dan Meisenzahl, a representative of the University of Hawaii, the report said. “We will continue to push myself to improve our service to the mountain.”
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
