Giant Magellan Telescope
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The Giant Magellan Telescope is a ground-based telescope planned for completion in 2016. It would consist of seven, 8.4-meter "primary" mirrors, for a total telescope diameter of 24.5 metres (80 feet). The telescope is expected to have over four times the light-gathering ability of existing instruments.
The telescope is planned to be constructed in northern Chile. The design calls for the mirrors to be arranged not as off-axis but instead with a concentric focus, with one mirror in the center and the other six curving around it, giving a symmetrical focal plane.
The mirrors are being constructed by the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, at a laboratory beneath the university's football stadium. The casting of the first mirror was completed on November 3, 2005, but the time-consuming shaping and polishing remains.
The location in northern Chile where the telescope will be installed has not been chosen yet. One possibility is near the Chajnantor plain, seat of the ALMA radiotelescope. Another is at Cerro Las Campanas, near La Serena, place of the Magellan telescopes.
[edit] Organizations involved in development
The following is a list of the members of a consortium developing the Telescope.
- Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (OCIW)
- Harvard University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- Texas A&M University
- University of Arizona
- University of Michigan
- University of Texas at Austin
- Australian National University
