AURA collects US-ELTP documentation as a service to our community, and provides the material on an “as-is” basis.

Latest News

• NSF wrestles with a dilemma over dueling giant telescopes Science, 24 May, 2024
• National Science Foundation to discuss possible funding for TMT Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 05 May, 2024
• External Panel to Advise NSF on Extremely Large Telescope Plans FYI: Science Policy News, 02 May, 2024
• America Is Building Two Giant Telescopes – But Only Has The Money To Finish One IFLScience.com, 14 March, 2024
• Why astronomers are worried about 2 major telescopes right now Space.com, 10 March, 2024
• Good News and Bad News for Astronomers’ Biggest Dream New York Times, 08 March, 2024
• U.S. giant telescopes imperiled by funding limit Science, 08 March, 2024
• Two Giant U.S. Telescopes Are Threatened by Federal Funding Cap Scientific American, 06 March, 2024
• Battle for the skies: US insists GMT and TMT telescopes must vie for funding Physics World, 06 March, 2024
• NSF board approves funding for just one of two proposed giant telescopes Science, 28 February, 2024
• Push for U.S. Government Funding: Giant Magellan Telescope and Thirty Meter Telescope Medriva, 21 February, 2024

Statements from Government Officials

• NSB Meeting Day 2 (video) US-ELTP starts at 2:06:10 – 02 May, 2024
• National Science Board Statement and Resolution, 27 February, 2024

Materials Related to Congress and Congressional Hearings

• Congressional language excerpt from explanatory statement accompanying HR 4366 (page 362 of the PDF), 05 March, 2024
• Congressional Hearing on CHIPS and Science Act Implementation: NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan about US-ELTP at 33:02, 04 October, 2023

Statements from Professional Organizations

• “Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s” [Astro2020], National Academies, 04 November, 2021

Other Statements of Support

• Open Letter to NSF Director Faculty and staff from AURA Member Institutions, 05 July, 2023
• 5 Nobel Laureates, on Building an ‘Extremely Large Telescope’, NY Times, 20 March, 2024

Editorials and Op-Eds

• Opinion: America’s ‘big glass’ dominance hangs on the fate of two powerful new telescopes LA Times, 25 April, 2024
• Extremely large telescopes at risk Science, 16 February, 2024
• Fund two extremely large US telescopes Science, 15 February, 2024
• The future of US astronomy just dimmed by half Big Think, Starts with a Bang, 07 March, 2024

US-ELTP Announcements

• US Extremely Large Telescope Program Receives $15.3 Million from the National Science Foundation, 02 October, 2023
• New Project Director for NOIRLab US-ELT Program Appointed, 27 January, 2023

Other Resources

• US-ELTP website
• NOIRLab website
• TMT website
• GMT website
• U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program brochure — June 2022
• U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program video — April 2024

US-ELTP Handouts

• Location: Learn about the factors used to determine the site locations for the extremely large telescopes.
• Adaptive Optics: Explore the cutting-edge adaptive optics systems that allow us to see distant objects with a level of clarity rivaling and surpassing that of space-based telescopes.
• The Search for Life: Discover how the US-ELTP is pioneering the search for life beyond our Solar System. 
• Exoplanet Formation: Learn about the powerful US-ELTP capabilities that will enable us to characterize exoplanets and gain insights into their formation.
• The Milky Way and Its Neighbors: Unveil how US-ELTP astronomers will use the Milky Way as a laboratory to enhance our understanding of galaxy evolution.