Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Commits $200 Million Support for Thirty-Meter Telescope

Caltech News Release
For Immediate Release
December 5, 2007

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Commits $200 Million Support for
Thirty-Meter Telescope

PASADENA, Calif - The California Institute of Technology and the
University of California have received a $200 million commitment over
nine years from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation toward the
further development and construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope
(TMT). Funding under this commitment will be shared equally between
the two universities, with matching gifts from the two institutions
expected to bring the total to $300 million. When built, TMT will be
the largest telescope in the world.

The telescope design is being developed by a U.S.-Canadian team that
includes the California Institute of Technology, the University of
California, and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research
in Astronomy (ACURA), with completion of the design development
expected by March 2009.

"The impressive scope of this project has now been matched by the
extraordinary generosity from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Caltech and the UC System are thrilled with the foundation's
confidence in the project, and we and our partners are eager to
create a history-making tool that will allow us to see farther into
the universe than ever before," said Caltech President Jean-Lou
Chameau.

With the TMT, astronomers will be able to locate and analyze the
light from the first stellar systems born soon after the Big Bang,
determine the physical processes governing the formation and
evolution of galaxies like our own Milky Way, study planet formation
around nearby stars, and make observations that test the fundamental
laws of physics. However, it is the unexpected discoveries that TMT
will make that will likely be the most exciting.

"This is a tremendous investment by the Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation in a path-breaking scientific tool with great potential
for unlocking new insights about the nature of the universe," said UC
President Robert C. Dynes. "UC and Caltech are pleased that the
Foundation has recognized the tremendous research capacity of our
institutions, and we look forward to the exciting findings that this
telescope will deliver in the future."

TMT will consist of a primary mirror with 492 individual 1.45-meter
segments that together measure 30 meters in diameter, providing more
than eight times the collecting area of the current largest
telescope. All segments will be under precision computer control so
that they will work together as a single mirror. This revolutionary
technology was developed for the 10-meter mirrors in the two Keck
telescopes in Hawaii.

The TMT will not only be the largest optical-infrared telescope in
the world, but it will also be at the forefront of technology in
virtually every aspect of its design. Adaptive optics (AO) will allow
the TMT to achieve a resolution superior to that of the Hubble Space
Telescope.

The TMT AO system will use six laser beams to create six luminous
spots in a layer of sodium atoms high in Earth's upper atmosphere.
These bright artificial stars serve as references for measuring the
turbulence in the atmosphere, allowing the AO system to compensate
for blurring of starlight by Earth's fluctuating atmosphere. This
technology was pioneered at the Lick Observatory 3-meter telescope
and has been developed further at the Palomar 5-meter and Keck
10-meter telescopes.

TMT is a collaboration between Caltech, UC, and ACURA, with
significant work being done by industry and by university teams
studying instrument designs. The project office is in Pasadena,
California.
The Foundation has already granted $50 million in support of a $79
million design-development phase that has been under way since April
2004. ACURA and the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy also contributed to the design-development phase.

For more information on the project, see http://www.tmt.org.

About Caltech
One of the most highly regarded institutions of science and
engineering in the world, Caltech is home to some of the best
students and faculty who share one mission: to create the
innovative, unparalleled science and technology of tomorrow. Caltech
is a small, focused institution, providing one of the best
student-to-faculty ratios among academic institutions. Caltech
enrolls about 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students total.
Because of its size, it provides an exceptional opportunity for a
comprehensive, inter-disciplinary scientific research experience for
its students, and access to a faculty and alumni holding over 32
Nobel Prizes. Caltech also operates outstanding facilities including
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Palomar and Keck observatories.

About the University of California
The University of California, founded in 1868, is a system of 10
campuses with a mission of teaching, research and public service.
With 214,000 undergraduate and graduate students, UC is the world's
premier public research university. UC has five medical schools, four
law schools and the nation's largest continuing education program.
Fifty researchers affiliated with UC have been awarded Nobel Prizes;
18 of theses prestigious awards have been won since 1995. UC also has
more than 350 members in the National Academy of Sciences, and
UC-affiliated researchers have received 56 Medals of Science since
Congress created the award in 1959. UC is involved in the management
of three national laboratories on behalf of the Department of Energy
- Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratories. For more news and information about the University of
California:
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu

About The Association of Canadian Universities for Research in
Astronomy
The Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy is
an organization of Canadian universities dedicated to the advancement
of research and teaching in astronomy and astrophysics in Canada. It
assists in coordinating large-scale national initiatives of its
member institutions, advocates for the priorities in the Long Range
Plan for Astronomy, and is a liaison between Canadian member
universities and international partners in international and world
observatories. For more news and information about ACURA, visit
http://www.universityastronomy.ca

About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, established in 2000, seeks to
advance environmental conservation and cutting-edge scientific
research around the world and to improve the quality of life in the
San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit
http://www.moore.org.


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Contact:

Caltech
Jill Perry
(626) 395-3226
jperry@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://pr.caltech.edu/media

University of California
Chris Harrington
(202) 974-6314
Chris.Harrington@xxxxxxxx
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Greg Nelson
(415) 561-7427
Greg.nelson@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.moore.org

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