GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE

The 'Giant Magellan Telescope' ('GMT') is a ground-based telescope planned for completion in 2016. It will consist of seven, 8.4-meter "primary" mirrors, for a total telescope diameter of 24.5 metres (80 feet).^[1] The telescope is expected to have over four times the light-gathering ability of existing instruments.
The presumed location of the telescope is Las Campanas Observatory,^[2] which is also the site of the Magellan telescopes, near La Serena, Chile. La Serena was chosen as the telescope's location because of its clear weather throughout most of the year.^[3] 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.

Contents

Organizations

References

Organizations

The following is a list of the members of a consortium developing the telescope.^[4]
# 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

References

1.
2. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Johns, Matt
3. Eye on the sky
4.


★ Giant Magellan Telescope home page

★ http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/telescope.html

★ New Scientist article on the telescope