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The Observatory

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A View of the Universe: TNO Contributes to TMT Success

February 15th, 2023

TNO, an independent research organization for a safer, healthier, and more sustainable life, wrote a story in their newsletter about the SMATT system they are building for TMT.

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India TMT Coordination Centre Produces TMT Main Mirror Roundel

February 1st, 2023

The second TMT India roundel has been completed! The roundel was polished at the Coherent facilities in Richmond, California by the India TMT Coordination Centre (ITCC) staff, using ITCC equipment...

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TMT Segment Mount Undergoes Tests in the Netherlands

November 17th, 2022

A few months ago, TMT Optical engineers traveled to the Netherlands to support the Dutch company TNO install a TMT Segment Support Assembly (SSA) onto an SSA Module Acceptance Test Tool (SMATT)....

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Updates for TMT Telescope Structure and Utility Services

October 12th, 2022

The teams working on TMT’s Segment Handling System (SHS) and utility system design received some good news following a series of critical review meetings earlier this spring. The TMT Telescope...

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HHV bags prestigious contract from Physical Research Laboratory

March 30th, 2022

HHV was short-listed by the TMT International Observatory (TIO), and India TMT Co-ordination Committee (ITCC) to develop the conceptual design of the coater for secondary and tertiary mirrors of...

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Update on TMT High Quality Optics Polishing at Coherent

January 19th, 2022

The fabrication of TMT’s primary mirror segments at Coherent Inc. in California continues to progress well. To date, a total of 19 M1 polished roundels have been delivered to TMT’s secure warehouse...

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Production of the TMT M1 mirrors ramps up at Coherent Inc.

September 8th, 2021

The successful production of TMT polished glass-ceramic (M1 roundels) is ramping up according to plan.

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Hexing Glass for TMT

July 22nd, 2021

Last month, I talked with the India-TMT Optics team and one of their industrial partners, Optica. We discussed their work for TMT’s primary mirror, for which India is providing 84 of the 492...

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TMT Laser Guide Star Facility Passes Design Milestone

June 3rd, 2021

The TMT Laser Guide Star Facility (LGSF) has successfully completed the first phase of its Preliminary Design Review (PDR1). The LGSF will be responsible for generating artificial laser guide stars...

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Cooling TMT's Adaptive Optics System

June 2nd, 2021

In a previous set of blog entries, we discussed the principle of adaptive optics, which TMT will use to remove the effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere. TMT's first light adaptive optics...

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TMT’s Telescope Structure progresses to Production Readiness

May 13th, 2021

A virtual meeting was conducted on April 5, 2021 between representatives of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ, TMT Japanese Partner Institution) and the TMT Project Office...

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Progress made on TMT mirror production

April 29th, 2021

TIO recently celebrated the completion of another eight newly polished roundels produced for the TMT primary mirror by Canon in Japan. The TIO and NAOJ teams responsible for the mirror polishing...

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First M1 Roundels Produced by Coherent for TMT Successfully Shipped to Storage Facility in California

April 19th, 2021

TMT and Coherent reached a new milestone this month with the completion of the first two roundels for TMT’s Primary Mirror (M1). Coherent precisely contoured and polished the optical surfaces of...

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TMT Mirror Segment Shipping Container Design and Prototypes Completed through Collaborative Effort with Larson Packaging Company

March 8th, 2021

TMT, in partnership with Larson Packaging Company, recently celebrated the successful design and completion of TMT’s Primary Mirror Assembly Shipping Container (PMASC). The shipping container will...

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TMT Selects Coherent for Hexagonal Cutting of Mirror Segments

February 3rd, 2021

A major milestone for the international Thirty Meter Telescope project (TMT) was reached in October 2020, as TMT selected California-based Coherent, Inc. for the Hexagonal cutting of the US...

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Approval of the first Production Roundel for Thirty Meter Telescope’s Primary Mirror

February 1st, 2021

The Thirty Meter Telescope Optics Group recently reached a critical production milestone, with the approval of the first polished roundel (# SN023) for TMT’s Primary Mirror (M1). Teams at TIO,...

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Inauguration of the ITOFF facility, CREST Campus, IIA, India

January 20th, 2021

The newly built India-TMT Optics Fabrication Facility (ITOFF) was recently inaugurated by Vice President of India Shri. Venkaiah Naidu at the Center for Research and Education in Science &...