You’re correct, and no one is saying there aren’t strongly held beliefs on both sides that should be considered, but that’s the important point - they both need to be considered. The minority opinion is that basically the entire island is sacred, and are using this particularly visible project to construct an argument…

Actually the Roman Catholic has long had an interest in astronomy. The Vatican Observatory and its researchers(Fr. Coyne, etc) have won prestigious astronomical research awards.

You also need clear weather, which Everest doesn’t have.

Damn shouldn’t have hit Publish so quickly.

One of the nice things about putting telescopes on volcanoes is that the various sensors used to align the telescope are incredibly good at measuring any deformation caused by magma rising towards the surface. So they’d be the best imaginable early warning system.

Adaptive optics reduce distortion from atmospheric interference... they don’t eliminate it. Noting beats less atmosphere.

Not all Native Hawaiians are against the telescope - many more are in support of it, and have intervened in the legal proceeding to show their support. Also, this was not a “sacred” because it was a gravesite — it was “kapu” (or off-limits) to commoners because the kupuna used the site to study astronomy. If the…

I live in Hawaii and like most of us here, have been following this story closely. It is inaccurate to characterize the opposition to this as coming from “the Native Hawaiian community” or “Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners”. Not all native Hawaiians or even all Hawaiian cultural practitioners oppose TMT:…

Respecting history and cultural sensitivities and pursuing science are not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, the Anti-TMT groups are, IMO, appear to be completely unwilling to consider the scientific sensitivities of the larger public and world (and to some, science is like a religion). Support even among native…

Not all natives are against the TMT. There are many that also recognize that 1) the ancient Hawaiians used the stars as part of their science and 2) the science and educational benefits of the TMT are wondrous.

No one is buried there on the site for the telescope. It’s “sacred” (as are all the peaks/volcanos.) At one point, early Hawaiians used parts of it for production (quarries). You can think of it as early commercialization of the property. Prior, it was reserved for “the elites” to visit and the hoi polloi weren’t…