Canada is on board to help build the world’s most powerful telescope.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Monday evening that Ottawa would commit $243.5 million over 10 years. The investment will give Canadian astronomers access to an instrument with unprecedented power to scour the cosmos.

The Thirty Meter Telescope, as the observatory is known, will sit on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii and dwarf what are currently the largest telescopes in the world, tripling the diameter of the lens and exponentially boosting astronomers’ abilities to study every important subject in astronomy: distant galaxies, supermassive black holes and the birth of the universe, to name a few.

“(It’s) an amazing day for Canadian science,” said Ray Carlberg, a University of Toronto astronomer who helped spearhead Canada’s long involvement in the project.

Harper made the announcement alongside Industry Minister James Moore after a tour of an observatory in Vancouver. Much of the funding will go toward building two components — the telescope’s innovative enclosure and a crucial set of optical instruments — that were designed by Canadian engineers and will be fabricated in British Columbia.

Canada was one of the original partners in the planning phase of the new telescope. But when it came time to commit funds to actually build it — and become an official partner, with an accompanying share of observing nights for Canadian scientists — the government delayed, casting the project’s future into doubt. Construction was slowed awaiting Ottawa’s decision.

Canadian scientists have been at the forefront of astronomy and astrophysics for a century, but some in the field openly warned that the country’s leadership would be seriously jeopardized without access to the next generation of powerful telescopes.

Monday’s announcement prompted a flurry of praise from academia.

“This is absolutely awesome news,” said Ray Jayawardhana, an astronomer and York University’s dean of science. “The inspirational and aspirational impacts on the people, especially kids, are no less important than the scientific and technological impacts of the project.”

The University of Toronto said its president “expressed delight” at the announcement and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada also welcomed the news.

The other partners in the Thirty Meter Telescope are Japan, India, China, and an association of American universities, including the California Institute of Technology and the University of California.

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