Canary Islands selected as alternative to Hawaii for Thirty Meter Telescope

[nextormento]

So, this story has been in development for a while
Thirty Meter Telescope may not be built in Hawaii, say astronomers Jul 8, 2016

New locations that are being considered include Baja California in Mexico, the Canary Islands and Chile, as well as locations in India and China.
The TMT board had chosen Mauna Kea, which already hosts 13 other telescopes, as the observatory's site in July 2009. Over the following six years, the organization received a series of necessary approvals and permits. However native Hawaiians, who regard the Mauna Kea summit as sacred – and who had previously objected to the growth in the number of telescopes there – carried out a protest at the telescope's ground-breaking in October 2014.
Six months later, following further demonstrations, Hawaii governor David Ige announced a temporary postponement of the project. Then last December, the Hawaiian Supreme Court invalidated the TMT's building permit, ruling that the State Board of Land and Natural Resources had not followed due process when it was approved. The court then remanded the case back to the board.

Today they're announcing they've decided on the alternative site.
Honolulu star advertiser: Canary Islands selected as alternate Thirty Meter Telescope site

The nonprofit organization that wants to build a giant telescope atop a Mauna Kea has selected an alternate site in case it can’t be built on land many Native Hawaiians consider sacred.

A mountain in the Canary Islands, Spain, is the primary alternative to Hawaii, Thirty Meter Telescope officials announced today.

“I’m glad they’re looking at alternative sites,” Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the leaders challenging the telescope, said during a break in the hearings. “I have to say if they do go with the alternative site, I hope they don’t do there what they’re doing to Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawaii.”

Telescope officials earlier this year decided to start looking at other sites for the $1.4 billion project. They also considered high mountains in Chile, India, China and Mexico.

Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos is on the edge of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, about 7,800 feet above sea level.

nature.com: Embattled mega-telescope gets back-up site in Canary Islands

Continued opposition at Hawaii construction site drives the Thirty Meter Telescope's backers to consider a Plan B.

Running out of time
Mauna Kea remains the TMT board’s preferred site, but the path to build the US$1.5-billion telescope there is narrowing. TMT officials want to start construction no later than April 2018. But the legal battle surrounding the telescope could drag on for months.

“We just want a mountain to start building on,” says Christophe Dumas, a scientist with the TMT International Observatory in Pasadena, California.

The Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, on La Palma, won out for the number-two spot over San Pedro Mártir on Mexico’s Baja peninsula and two sites in Chile. Existing infrastructure — such as a road going up the mountain, and dormitories for work crews — helped tip the balance in La Palma’s favour, Harrison says. The exact site has not yet been decided, but there is a spot just outside the current observatory boundaries that could work for the TMT, she says. “We could really move forward quickly should things not work out” at Mauna Kea, she says.

Because La Palma's elevation of 2,250 metres is substantially lower than that of the 4,050-metre-high Mauna Kea site, there is more atmosphere between it and the stars the TMT will be observing. That also means there would be more water vapour in the telescope's line of sight to block mid-infrared wavelengths and degrade measurements.

Mid-infrared instruments, such as some proposed for the TMT, can penetrate dust-obscured regions such as the centres of galaxies and star-forming regions. Harrison says the telescope may be able to accommodate mid-infrared astronomy by scheduling observations when conditions are best, and by developing sophisticated adaptive optics to sharpen the measurements.

Matt Mountain, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington DC, notes that other organizations have chosen Mauna Kea because of its infrared properties. But such considerations may not be as important now, with the James Webb Space Telescope — which works in the infrared — slated for launch in 2018.

Work continues on the TMT's components outside of Hawaii. Meanwhile, the University of Hawaii at Manoa has announced plans to remove three of Mauna Kea's 13 summit observatories, in response to a May 2015 order from Hawaii's governor. The university leases land atop the mountain as a science reserve for astronomy — an arrangement set to continue through 2033.

Official statement:

Press Releases
The TMT International Observatory Board of Governors met last week to discuss the progress of TMT in Hawaii and to consider potential alternate sites. To follow is a statement from Henry Yang, Chair of the TMT International Observatory Board:

"The TMT International Observatory (TIO) Board of Governors has explored a number of alternative sites for TMT. Every site we considered would enable TMT’s core science programs.

"After careful deliberation, the Board of Governors has identified Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain as the primary alternative to Hawaii.

"Maunakea continues to be the preferred choice for the location of the Thirty Meter Telescope, and the TIO Board will continue intensive efforts to gain approval for TMT in Hawaii. TIO is very grateful to all of our supporters and friends throughout Hawaii, and we deeply appreciate their continued support."

Wiki links:
Thirty Meter Telescope
TMT protests
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory


The alternative site already houses an impressive collection of telescopes, including GranTeCan . It's privileged position, along with archipelago-wide regulation against light pollution, offers clean skies all year round, making it a really popular site for observation.

[Sunseeker]

Okay? 10/char

[Fullmetal89]

Cool, I got family that lives in Tenerife.

[TrumpIsPresident]

Cleaning all that canary poop from the lens will be a full time job.

[nextormento]

Okay? 10/char

Dunno, I think it's an interesting story >_<

I should try more catchy titles in the future:
Science finds non-religions island to settle.
Protesters drive $1.4 billion project away from the US. Spain eager to take the investment.
Canary Islands, refueling port in the way to colonizing the Americas, strikes again.

[Blobfish]

Tenerife.. you need Southern stars coverge

Best Stars are in Southern Hemisphere

William Hercshals son even moved to South Africa

CRUX.. Souuthern Cross Rulz bto

[ranzino]

Tenerife.. you need Southern stars coverge

Best Stars are in Southern Hemisphere

William Hercshals son even moved to South Africa

CRUX.. Souuthern Cross Rulz bto

That's what Chile is for.

[Barael]

William Hercshals son even moved to South Africa

They got Black Magic in South Africa these days, they don't need no stinkin' white man's science no more.

[Mihalik]

Science finds non-religions island to settle.

Huehuehue. It's one of the things that always surprised me about Spain. For a supposedly very Catholic country, it very not Catholic. Tho the religious folk are always lurking just around the corner with their weird charter schools, Opus universities and attempts to sneak into the school curriculum. But it is also a different sort of religiosity than the US Evangelical stuff. They steer way clear of coming off un-sciency and rather focus on public mores and such. Yet, religion at least in Madrid/Barcelona is something never discussed publicly as people seem to realize how stupid they come off if they mention being religious.