View of the telescope structure and mirrors through the enclosure opening. The inside of the dome is illuminated to show the opened ventilation vents on the side, one of the two Nasmyth platforms to the left, and the telescope in an inclined position with its primary, secondary and tertiary mirrors. The secondary mirror is seen in reflection on the primary mirror. The back of the secondary mirror shows the small launch telescope which is used to propagate the laser light to form an artificial laser guide star to be used for image correction by TMT’s adaptive optics system.
Image of the night sky and milkyway seen through the telescope enclosure opening. The secondary mirror and its six spiders (supporting beams) is seen across the nighttime sky, reflecting the surface of the primary mirror with the shadow of the secondary mirror and spiders in the center.
Fisheye view of the telescope primary mirror and telescope structure in broad daylight. The telescope is pointing vertically in direction of the circular enclosure opening. The secondary mirror, convex in shape, is seen against the sky background, held above the primary mirror by six structural beams (called “secondary mirror spiders”). The flat oval tertiary mirror is seen in the middle of the primary mirror, whose hexagonal segments are clearly defined in this image. To the left of the primary mirror sits the first-light instrument WFOS, a multi-object spectrograph working in seeing-limited mode. To the right, behind the telescope structure, we can spot the blue container hosting TMT’s adaptive system NFIRAOS. A telescope structure access platform can be seen partly on the top of the image.
The NAOJ-TIO Telescope Structure design team meeting at the Mitsubishi Electric Corp. facility in Amagasaki, Japan on February 16 and 17, 2023 (JST).
Overview of meetings including MELCO-NAOJ-TIO teams held at the Mitsubishi Electric Corp. facility in Amagasaki, Japan on February 16 and 17, 2023 (JST).
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Telescope Structure serves as the framework onto which all other subsystems (mirrors, science instruments, cables, refrigerant lines, laser guide star facility, etc.) get attached. The telescope structure is divided into two main rotating systems: the azimuth and the elevation structures. The azimuth structure supports the elevation structure and the multiple scientific instruments located on the two Nasmyth platforms. The telescope, about 50 meters tall and 55 meters wide, will be enclosed within a very compact dome. It will weigh close to 3000 metric tons and will be capable of completing a full azimuth rotation in less than 3 minutes.
An international panel of reviewers from MELCO-NAOJ-TIO, outside the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) facility in Amagasaki, Japan, met for important production readiness reviews for the TMT’s Structure. The reviews were attended by leading scientists and engineers from both continents, on February 16 and 17, 2023 (JST).
On February 6 2023, TMT had the pleasure to welcome Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan, the Indian Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC to its Project Office and technical lab. in California. During her visit, she met with Bob Kirshner, Executive Director of TIO, and several TMT scientists to discuss the important scientific and technological cooperation between TMT partners in India and the United States.
Mr S. Sriram, India-TMT Coordination Center (ITCC) engineer, inspects the roundel SN050 in its shipping crate after its arrival at the India-TMT Optics Fabrication Facility (ITOFF) near Bengaluru. The roundel is the second roundel produced by ITCC that will become a mirror segment of TMT Primary Mirror.
Second TMT roundel polished by India TMT team during on-site inspection at the Coherent facility in California. TMT roundel (SN050) is the second TMT blank converted to a roundel with aspheric polishing by ITCC. SN050 will become a finished segment of TMT's 492 Primary Mirror Segment.
The US-ELTP group picture in the Seattle Convention Center for AAS 241 in Seattle, Washington.
Integration of TMT Segment Support Assembly (SSA) and part of SSA Module Acceptance Test Tool – August 2022. TMT SSA system is installed for the first time on top of the aluminum segment test plate at Westend facility in the Netherlands. From left, TNO engineer Rik van den Hoeven- (Integration Test Engineer), Alan Tubb (TMT), Scott Page (TMT) and Nico van der Heiden- (TNO Project Manager)
