Spain is getting closer to having in its territory the most powerful telescope on the entire planet, the Teinta Meter Telescope (TMT). Its location may finally be the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, which for many years has been the emergency ‘plan B’, in case the original idea of having it in the United States failed. And in the end, due to a large set of triggers, La Palma is gaining a lot of strength.
A change of direction. The original use of the TMT was intended for the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii. But it is a plan that was paralyzed due to the rejection of the native communities, who consider this a sacred place. Although it is not only the ‘fault’ of the natives, but also of the cuts that the Trump administration has made to research and science in general.
Given this situation, Spain has offered to host the project in La Palma as announced by the TMT International Observatory LLC on its website. In this case, he thanks the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for the offer made to commit to investing 400 million euros to install this telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory.
The next steps are focused on developing together with the Ministry a “detailed roadmap towards the possible realization of the TMT at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory”, with the aim of this project moving forward at this location.
The importance of La Palma. The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory already houses world-renowned facilities such as the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), which is the largest optical and near-infrared telescope on the planet. In addition, it participates in new generation projects such as the Cherenkov telescopes, dedicated to observing high-energy gamma rays.
And this is something that the Minister of Science herself, Diana Morant, wanted to remember, who through her X account has celebrated this advance as the necessary step to turn “the Canarian sky into the main observatory in the northern hemisphere.”
Why it is important. The TMT is not just any project: its construction involves some of the most influential scientific organizations on the planet, such as the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) or the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), which represents more than 40 academic entities from around the world.
Beyond this, we are also talking about the TMT being one of the three reference telescopes globally along with the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile or the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) being developed in the Atacama Desert.
Its 30-meter diameter mirror, made up of 492 hexagonal segments, will make it a key tool for exploring exoplanets, black holes, dark matter and the formation of the first galaxies, with a resolution ten times higher than that of Hubble.
Political impact. Beyond the astronomical potential, hosting the TMT would mean a leap in scale for Spain in its presence in international research, reinforcing the role of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) as a strategic partner in global scientific projects and attracting talent and technological investment.
Images | Alin Corneliu
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