This aerial view shows the summit of Mauna Kea with a series of astronomical observatories and roads connecting them to one another and to the Mauna Kea access road. These observatories, on one of the most sacred locations in Hawaiian society and culture, should not continue to exist as a legacy of an unethical past, but can only continue to exist with the consent of the native population. (Credit: Richard Wainscoat/International Gemini Observatory/AURA/NSF)

The path forward for astronomers and native Hawaiians

A history of injustice and the greatest natural location for ground-based telescopes have long been at odds. Here’s how the healing begins.

In 2015, the astronomy community was excitedly anticipating the next generation in ground-based, optical astronomy. After more than 20 years of 10-meter class telescopes being the largest and most powerful in the world, a trio of 30-meter class telescopes were slated for construction: two in Chile and one in Hawaii. While the Giant Magellan Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope were both overwhelmingly supported by the indigenous population, Hawaii’s proposed Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) — like many telescopes atop Mauna Kea before it — faced significant protests and opposition from native Hawaiians, who cited many concerns and injustices that dated back decades or even centuries.

In one of the worst public relations move in all of science history, a number of senior astronomers circulated a message that read, in part, “The Thirty-Meter Telescope is in trouble, attacked by a horde of native Hawaiians who are lying about the impact of the project on mountain and who are threatening the safety of TMT personnel. Government officials are supporting TMT’s legality to proceed but not…