Take chance for telescope dialogue

Leaders of an international astronomy group who want to forge a productive dialogue with Native Hawaiians and others opposed to construction of huge telescopes atop Hawaii’s highest peaks should seize the opportunity to hear from those critics directly when the scientists convene in the islands for the first time.

More than 2,500 astronomers from at least 75 countries are gathering in Honolulu for the 29th International Astronomical Union General Assembly Aug. 3-14, a triennial gathering that marks the group’s first such convention in Honolulu and the first time a U.S. city has hosted the general assembly since 1988. Beijing was the 2012 host, and Honolulu beat out Paris and Calgary, Canada, as the site of this year’s meeting, which is expected to bring $10 million to $20 million into the state. This prestigious gathering of great minds promises to be an extraordinary event.

The IAU is the world’s largest professional body for astronomers and comes together every three years to share research, talk about scientific issues and establish standards in the field. There are scores of meetings scheduled at the Hawaii Convention Center, but none devoted to the ongoing dispute over planned construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea.

Some Native Hawaiians oppose the project because they say it would desecrate land they consider sacred. They argue that indigenous rights and cultural concerns were downplayed during the legal process that cleared the way for construction, which they have impeded for months by protesting on Mauna Kea and at times blocking the road construction workers would use to access the building site.

As Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Timothy Hurley wrote in Sunday’s newspaper, some TMT opponents are dismayed that the IAU made no accommodation for them to formally address the assembly about why they oppose the $1.4 billion project. At 18 stories tall, the TMT would be the largest telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea, capable, perhaps, of peering back to the beginning of time. Mauna Kea’s summit already houses a network of 13 telescopes that comprise the world’s largest observatory for optical, infrared and submillimeter astronomy.

Piero Benvenuti, deputy general secretary of the IAU, said the organization is aware of the “current situation” regarding the TMT and understands that it is a “deeply complex and sensitive issue.” But organizers have no plans to adapt a convention program that has been in the works since 2009, he said. “It is our sincere hope that moving forward, there will be an open, productive dialogue among all parties involving, creating a shared, long-term vision for Maunakea.”

Why wait? When will there ever be this many astronomers in Hawaii again, available to directly participate in the collaborative dialogue the IAU seeks? The scientific group has a chance to engage on an issue that is not dissipating; in fact, the controversy is spreading. Native Hawaiian protesters inspired by the TMT opponents’ success have stepped up their own efforts to block completion of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope atop Haleakala on Maui, a 14-story project that is much further along in construction.

A chance for healthy dialogue is all the more important knowing that protesters of both projects are certain to demonstrate outside the convention center and that their protests may disrupt the assembly’s public events. As it is, convention-related excursions to the Mauna Kea observatories already have been canceled. These long-standing and deep-rooted disagreements beg for higher discourse. Although the formal general assembly sessions understandably focus on scientific matters, it would be worthwhile if even an informal session could bring together interested parties from all sides of the debate together for a civil examination of the issues.

Some might ask what the IAU scientists have to gain by engaging telescope opponents while all the astronomical world is watching. We ask: What do they have to lose? If world-class astronomical research and indigenous rights are to co-exist in Hawaii, there’s no time like the present to seek common ground.