Context: Recently, the Indian astronomers have collaborated with the 2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Prof. Andrea Ghez on the design of back-end instruments and possible science prospects of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.

About Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) Project

• It is being installed at Maunakea in Hawaii.
• It is being designed and developed by the TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO).
• It is an international partnership between CalTech, Universities of California, Canada, Japan, China, and India.
• It seeks to advance scientific knowledge while fostering connection among the partner countries and their citizens.
• It is a new class of extremely large telescopes that will allow us to see deeper into space and observe cosmic objects with unprecedented sensitivity.
• Its adaptive optics and spectroscopic capabilities will allow astronomers to explore the mysterious period in the life of the universe when the first stars and galaxies were formed.
• TIO is a non-profit international partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada).

SIGNIFICANCE

• The Thirty Meter Telescope is a new class of extremely large telescopes .
• It will allow us to see deeper into space and observe cosmic objects with unprecedented sensitivity.
• With its 30 m prime mirror diameter, TMT will be three times as wide, with nine times more area, than the largest currently existing visible-light telescope in the world.
• This will provide unparalleled resolution with TMT images more than 12 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.
• When operational, TMT will provide new observational opportunities in essentially every field of astronomy and astrophysics.  
• The instrument allows observing in wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared.
• This unique instrument will allow astronomers to address fundamental questions in astronomy .
• It will also allow understanding star and planet formation to unraveling the history of galaxies and the development of large-scale structure in the universe.