The Thirty Meter Telescope Project: Opening the Next Generation of Giant Optical/Infrared Telescope Gary H. Sanders, Project Manager, Thirty Meter Telescope Project

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project is designing the first of the next generation of giant optical/infrared telescopes. Planned for first light in the next decade, TMT will image the first galaxies, the birth of stars and advance the search for exosolar planets. With a diameter of 30 meters, TMT will collect 9 times more light than the current largest terrestrial telescopes (the Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea), 144 times as much light as the Hubble Space Telescope and will use adaptive optics to sweep away the disturbances of the Earth's atmosphere. The TMT design, the search for the best available mountain site and the plan to construct TMT will be described.