The world’s largest telescope is likely to be set up at Hanle village in Ladakh region of India, says reports. Named as Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) International Observatory, the entire project will cost around $1.47 billion. Previously, Hawaii was chosen for the construction of TMT project but the Supreme Court rejected the application in December 2015 due to several major problems. Now, the decision-making team of TMT is looking for a new location to set up the telescope and Hanle village in Ladakh is the number one contender.
An international team of investigators will visit the location for inspection within next few weeks. Investigative team will make sure to get the permit from the court as soon as possible so that project can be started without any further delay. The project requires very large investments and several challenges are involved in the construction of the world’s largest telescope thus, the investigative team will also look for alternative locations and TMT might be set up in some other location, but Ladakh is the best possible option yet.
Dr B Eswar Reddy, The TMT India programme coordinator, said that Chile is another good alternative and a team will inspect the place for further analysis. He further added that TMT would have become operational by 2016 but the Hawaiian Supreme Court cancelled the permit that ruined the project.
According to reports, India will make an investment of $212 million in the TMT project. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and the IUCAA are working on the project for the last three years. Indian scientists are developing highly sensitive sensors to monitor the sky and hardware system for the TMT project.
