Oral Presentation

TMT project in Japan and prospects for collaborations in ELT era

Wako Aoki (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a next generation extremely large optical/infrared telescope planned by an international collaboration. The construction will start at Mauna Kea in Hawaii next year. TMT-Japan is starting the production of the segment mirrors for the telescope primary mirror and the design and development of the telescope structure and instruments. I will review the current status of the TMT project and discuss the possible future collaborations in the East Asian community with large optical/infrared telescopes.