[ExI] Update on the Hawaiian observatory shutdown

Dave Sill sparge at gmail.com
Mon Aug 26 16:23:55 UTC 2019


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/worlds-largest-telescope-why-locations-mauna-kea-hawaii-la-palma-spain-might-not-matter/






*When starlight from billions of years ago zips across the universe and
finally comes into focus on Earth, astronomers want their telescopes to be
in the best locations possible to see what's out there. Despite years of
legal battles and months of protests by Native Hawaiian opponents, the
international coalition that wants to build the world's largest telescope
in Hawaii insists that the islands' highest peak — Mauna Kea — is the best
place for their $1.4 billion instrument.But just barely.Thirty Meter
Telescope officials acknowledge that their backup site atop a peak on the
Spanish Canary island of La Palma is a comparable observatory location, and
that it wouldn't cost more money or take extra time to build it there.*


*There's also no significant opposition to putting the telescope on La
Palma like there is in Hawaii, where some Native Hawaiians consider the
mountain sacred and have blocked trucks from hauling construction equipment
to Mauna Kea's summit for more than a month.*

*...*
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