The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has agreed to donate $200 million over nine years towards the development and construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), a massive project that, when completed, will be the largest telescope in the world.
Run jointly by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology, the project will also receive funds from the schools, bringing the total to $300 million.
Unlike older telescopes, the design for the TMT's primary mirror is built around 492 individual 1.45 meter (4.75 foot) segments, each of which will be under precise computer control. The sum effect will be the equivalent of a single mirror larger than 30 feet meters (more than 98 feet) in diameter.
Using adaptive optics techniques, the telescope will ultimately have a resolution superior to that of the space-based Hubble telescope, backers say.
"Caltech and the UC system are thrilled with the foundation's confidence in the project, and we and our partners are eager to create a history-making tool that will allow us to see farther into the universe than ever before," said Caltech President Jean-Lou Chameau in a statement.
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Commits $200 Million Support for Thirty-Meter Telescope [UC/CalTech press release]
(Image: Artist's concept of the segmented TMT mirror. Credit: TMT Observatory Corporation)
