Meetings held to discuss telescope installation

  • Published
  • By J. Rich Garcia
HAWAII --  Replacing a telescope atop Mauna Kea with one that can spot Earth-threatening asteroids and comets is the subject of public meetings, which will take place over the next week on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu and Maui.

Meetings took place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on the island of Hawaii; and will take place Tuesday on the island of Maui, which is an alternate location for the telescope; and Wednesday on the island of Oahu. Each meeting will feature a presentation on the proposed telescope, with attendees having the opportunity to ask questions and express opinions and comments. Questions, comments, issues and concerns will be documented and explored as part of a formal environmental process.

Funding for the project's construction is through a cooperative agreement that is being administered by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M..

The new telescope is atypical in that it will consist of four optical segments, each with its own digital camera. Working together as a system, it will be able to survey the visible sky once each week, finding and tracking asteroids and comets whose paths pass close enough to Earth to pose a danger of collision. The system can help NASA achieve a goal of categorizing near-Earth objects larger than 140 meters in diameter, which is about 460 feet.

If Mauna Kea becomes the approved location, the new telescope will replace an 88-inch telescope that has been operated by the University of Hawaii since 1970.

Called the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS, the proposed project will be owned, operated and maintained by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. The university will also be responsible for processing the imagery and data, as well as providing continued funding for maintaining and operating Pan-STARRS.

These public meetings are part of a formal review process that investigates potential environmental impacts.