India’s Ladakh is one of the most breathtaking places situated in the Himalayas. Its beauty is sufficiently capable enough to woo you over and over again. But this time, it is in the news for some other reason. The place might be chosen for the world’s largest telescope project, which indulges in an investment to install a 30 meter telescope of worth $1.47 billion.
The other shortlisted competitor which was chosen earlier for this big achievement was Mauna Kea in Hawaii. But due to some major obstacles the observators faced over there, they decided to test Hanle a place Ladakh for the project. An international squad is likely to visit Ladakh in a few months.
Administrators in Hawaii Supreme Court had rejected the permit for his TMT project last year in the month of December. Reasons being the sacredness of the selected area in Muana Kea, so now the TMT authorities have started looking for other alternatives, out of which Ladakh is one good option. Surprisingly Hawaii on realizing the great significance of this particular project, is now trying to get back in the race again.
Ladakh has a great deal of chance to become the final choice because India already is supporting TMT’s software by building actuators, edge sensors and system sustaining assemblies.
Henry Yang, head of the TMT International Observatory Board, said “Given the enormous investment and potential challenges ahead, it is necessary to also carry out a review of alternate sites. Because it was an unexpected turn for the project as it got delayed due to the decision of the Hawaiian Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the project is also looking for prospective sites both in northern and southern hemispheres, including Hanle,”
Two major scientific institutions, the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) Bengaluru, along with two government departments have been working on the project since 2013.
