China and India have catapulted to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join as partners in building a Hawaii telescope, which will be the world's largest.
"This will represent a quantum leap for the Chinese community," Shude Mao, professor of astrophysics at National Astronomical Observatories of China, said in a telephone interview yesterday from Waikoloa on the Big Island, where he was attending a meeting of the telescope's scientific advisory committee.
The Thirty Meter Telescope's segmented primary mirror, which will be nearly 100 feet or 30 meters long, will give it nine times the light-collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today. Its images will also be three times sharper.
G C Anupama, professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, said the largest telescope in India has a 2-meter (6.5-feet) mirror, though India is currently building one that will be 4 meters (13 feet).
"So it's a huge jump for us from 4-meter to 30-meter," Anupama said in a telephone interview on the sidelines of the advisory committee's meeting. "It definitely will take Indian astronomy to greater heights."
The telescope, known as TMT, will be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the sun and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed.
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