India signs pact for the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT)--in Hawaii (US)

                       

Objective Points:

1. Pact signed for the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT)--in Hawaii (US)
2. Master Partnership Agreement (MPA) for the construction of the $1.5-billion Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT).
3. That would be the world’s largest optical and infrared telescope.
4. Pact was signed by the five partner countries — Canada, China, India, Japan and the U.S. — in Hawaii, the site for the proposed telescope. 
5. India is a 10 per cent partner in the project => financial commitment of about Rs. 1,000 crore.
6. Much of India’s contribution will be in-kind.
7. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will jointly fund the Indian component. 
8. At present, India has three 2 m class optical-IR telescopes and a 3.6 m telescope waiting to be commissioned. 
9. Will be made out of 492 hexagonal segments.
10. Will have observational windows from UV to mid-IR wavelengths.
11. Since it is a Ground-based telescope, it  is limited in spatial resolution by the atmospheric turbulence.
12. Will resolve images better than Hubble Space Telescope (HST).