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Island scientists set sights high designing cutting-edge telescope

A team of Saanich-based astronomers and engineers is designing the heart of a telescope that could see the very edge of the observable universe. The $1.
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Mathematician Matthias Rosensteiner, left, and astronomer David Anderson with a model of the optics system for the $1.8-billion Thirty Metre Telescope at NRC Herzberg in Saanich.

 

A team of Saanich-based astronomers and engineers is designing the heart of a telescope that could see the very edge of the observable universe.

The $1.8-billion Thirty Metre Telescope will be one of the most powerful telescopes in the world when complete, say researchers from NRC Herzberg and the University of Victoria. It’s a multi-national effort, but key to the project is an “adaptive optics” system in its final stages of design on Vancouver Island.

“The technology that goes into that system is absolutely mind-blowing. We’re talking about a system that can take the twinkle out of the stars,” said Luke Simard, the TMT science instruments group leader.

Simard leads developers in 15 facilities across four countries designing and putting together parts for the telescope, which is expected to be operational in 2024.

Although the project has been in the works for a decade, news in April that the federal government had committed $243.5 million over the next 10 years was a relief to those like Simard. It falls short of the $300 million requested, but it means both the adaptive optics system based in Saanich and the construction of the dome in Port Coquitlam should be covered.

“It’s a huge thing for Canadian astronomers,” Simard said.

The United States, Japan, India and China have also committed funds.

As with many “Big Science” projects, this one is facing challenges. Not long after breaking ground near the summit of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, construction halted this April in the face of protests from cultural and heritage groups who consider the land sacred.

Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have since voted to rescind support they gave in 2009 for the project. The TMT International Observatory board chairman said in a statement the company will redouble negotiation efforts.

Most scientists outside the negotiating process are hoping for a respectful resolution.

“The scientists I know are concerned. They want to make sure that it is fair,” said Kim Venn, a UVic astronomer and Canada Research Chair in observational astrophysics.

The TMT will be made of more than 490 mirror segments that span a 30-metre diameter and will operate at both visible and infrared wavelengths.

Canada is already a partner in the Gemini Observatory, also located in Hawaii.

But with twin eight-metre telescopes, Gemini is limited in the distance it can see, Venn said.

“We’re trying to resolve objects that formed right after the universe formed,” Venn said. “The reason we go from eight to 30 metres is to do this: It’s to reach the highest distances, or the oldest objects from the cosmic dawn.”

For reference: The TMT will be 300 times stronger than the telescope on Observatory Hill in Saanich. From Victoria, the TMT could see a loonie in someone’s hand in Calgary, Simard said.

At about eight-by-10-by-4.5-metres, the adaptive optic instrument will be the size of a small building when constructed and will weigh about 40 tonnes.

‘‘When you build bigger and bigger telescopes and you’re looking through the atmosphere, the atmosphere disturbs the light,” said David Anderson, a research officer working directly on the system at NRC Herzberg.

That’s why we see stars “twinkle,” he said.

“If you don’t correct the twinkling, you get a somewhat blurry image.”

The TMT will pick up images three time sharper than currently possible, Anderson said.

Venn compared it with the aperture of a camera.

“It means you can actually change the shape of the mirror many times per second to make up for atmospheric disturbances,” she said.

Construction could begin on the system as early as 2016 and the public will be able to visit the Saanich site and watch it grow, Simard said.

— With files from The Associated Press

asmart@timescolonist.com