The decision clears the way for managers of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope to seek a permit from the state to build the facility on conservation land. TMT managers aim to begin construction late [...]]]> The University of Hawaii Board of Regents unanimously approved a plan Monday to build the world’s largest telescope at Mauna Kea’s summit.

The decision clears the way for managers of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope to seek a permit from the state to build the facility on conservation land. TMT managers aim to begin construction late next year and finish by 2018 if they can get a permit.

Some Native Hawaiians have opposed the telescope on the grounds it would defile Mauna Kea’s summit, which they consider sacred. Environmentalists say the telescope would harm the rare wekiu bug.

But the board was moved by the potential it offered for advancing science, providing jobs and helping the economy. The university’s board must vote on the project because it owns the lease for the land on which the telescope would be built.

“I think it would be almost unthinkable not to approve this project for what it would mean for scientific research and astronomy, what it would mean for education, and the answers it may provide to unlock the mysteries of the universe,” said board member Chuck Gee.

(source)

With a main mirror about 60 inches (1.8 meters) wide, the new telescope on Maui’s Haleakala volcano peak is somewhat small when compared to the large 10-meter Keck [...]]]>
A new telescope in Hawaii being billed as the world’s largest digital camera has begun searching the sky for potentially killer asteroids that could endanger our planet Earth.

With a main mirror about 60 inches (1.8 meters) wide, the new telescope on Maui’s Haleakala volcano peak is somewhat small when compared to the large 10-meter Keck telescopes atop the Hawaiian peak of Mauna Kea.

But the telescope’s 1,400-megapixel camera is a digital giant, with 1.4 billion pixels spread across 40 centimeters to snap photos of the night sky automatically, night after night, to find potentially dangerous asteroids. A typical domestic digital camera may have 5 million pixels on a chip a few millimeters across, telescope officials said.

(source)

Anthony Wesley, an amateur astronomer in Australia, is reporting that he recorded another impact on Jupiter! This time he has video of the impact, which he claims was quite bright and lasted about two seconds.

He reports that there is no obvious impact scar as in previous such events. If this pans out, I’m sure Hubble [...]]]>

Anthony Wesley, an amateur astronomer in Australia, is reporting that he recorded another impact on Jupiter! This time he has video of the impact, which he claims was quite bright and lasted about two seconds.

He reports that there is no obvious impact scar as in previous such events. If this pans out, I’m sure Hubble and many other observatories will be in a big hurry to get observations! Infrared images are of particular interest, since they can record the heat from the blast.

(source + updates)

Some helpful links… What is a planet? What is a natural satellite? What is planet Mercury?