Giant Telescopes of Tomorrow
Thirty Meter Telescope
The TMT will be like a goliath version of Keck, currently the largest optical/infrared telescope with its twin 33-foot mirrors. Comprised of hundreds of segments, the TMT's composite mirror will be over 100 feet across, enabling it to see objects nine times fainter than Keck can. Altogether, the TMT will be able to gaze back to just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, which astrophysicists put at 13 billion years ago. It, too, will enable the study of galaxy formation and of Saturn-sized exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, among other pursuits.