Tmt comp background

The Observatory

Bcb48a27248d826e1a7fe29216b37d0098b7ae21

Successful Collaboration with New TMT Polishing Facility in Bengaluru India

March 14th, 2024

In a significant development for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO), Glen Cole, former lead optical fabrication engineer at TIO, recently visited the India-TMT Optics...

C7dfd74188e6884867dda86114c70491a33a1d45

TMT International Observatory Produces its 100th Polished Mirror

March 5th, 2024

Today, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO) announces the completion of its 100th mirror segment. Ultimately, TIO will mosaic 492 of these segments to form an extremely...

430e8eb518bfccd67c82314447104561ada67f2b

TMT Laser Guide Star Facility Proceeds to Final Design Phase

December 6th, 2023

The TMT Laser Guide Star Facility has successfully completed its Preliminary Design Review and is advancing to the Final Design Phase. The review was held on 8–9 November 2023 at the TMT...

7b52a8fc1d58b4a101998dc018a7db63bb405812

AMOS Contracted by TMT International Observatory to Design and Build Secondary Mirror Support System and Positioner

November 22nd, 2023

The TMT International Observatory (TIO) contracted AMOS to design and manufacture the secondary mirror support system and positioner (M2SSP) of the future extremely large Thirty Meter Telescope...

1b78658c436a4349b1113d857c4aed960d060c43

TMT Secondary Mirror Support System and Positioner Assembly Kick-Off Meeting

November 16th, 2023

A kickoff meeting was recently held for the TMT Secondary Mirror Support System and Positioner Assembly (M2SSP), a critical subsystem of the TMT Observatory. Responsible for safely supporting and...

037bf8b9d454f46c9229bf6641a3811158840f45

Faster Processing for TMT's Precision Mirrors

September 1st, 2023

Coherent installs an advanced ultrasonic machine tool to speed hexing of the 1.5 m diameter Thirty Meter Telescope mirror segments.

Cd50e0d9b8508a85a2a9d0f1f7ed357dc96f539d

TMT Monrovia Lab Visit

August 22nd, 2023

On 18 July 2023, Sergio Salata, Astronomy Project Manager of Added Value Solutions (AVS) in Tenerife, visited the TMT office to tell us about the astronomy projects and other science equipment...

6d8b7c272c4b588d9e051e3822c227697366de73

Dust Boot Design for TMT’s Primary Mirror Moves Into Final Design Stage

July 17th, 2023

An important component of TMT’s Primary Mirror Control Sensing System and the Alignment and Phasing System is progressing to its final design and qualification stage: the sensor dust boots.

Dbbd12b171f6c2eab797ebaa212be25daf2745d5

Progress in India-TMT Optics Fabrication Facility Commissioning

July 4th, 2023

Exciting news out of India: TMT’s Primary Mirror Segment Polishing and Metrology Equipment have been successfully installed in the India-TMT Optics Fabrication Facility. The Stress Mirror Polishing...

E4f9c0ad9a585d4fd65cd4f8304a6dfaf4678beb

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.

121db9d26b2aff880a8ba2a61be22a7f46ffc270

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...

3c92234ff01bb57fae5c32a750c54815f56d3450

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...

05a8ac4a7814317dd754475a9ffc86096e299aa3

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...

Fd71dee4a6f957af326289a7d28d8436d2bd54dc

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.

9036a9d33d49d537cbd33bb34bd3bfae3eb24a07

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...

76644781c890e0ec519611787b8df98673539284

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...

5fcbf21dd8554ab3851bbbadd169904060a85b43

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...

Df965f9f2bc95253a80de9c9775ce9a938c3e6d6

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...

5d119f5937c12c76b20ae448d7d7c93d7928714e

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...

B76ecb58858e797f0c2fbd25c7bdb90daa9c293e

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...

7f39954b3cc2b628b9fe85b7c0ab805ff1c8246a

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...

947fe79dd3e6606b4ef020c34fbe9ed492b7aec1

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...

A4e5b9d664fb856f6b3f480a85f0b6d940cb0e1f

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,...

6e95455d958d1099b982fb04dee69ff3b806a64a

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 &...