Scientists break ground in Chile on what's expected to be world's largest telescope

[Judi Lynn]

Scientists break ground in Chile on what's expected to be world's largest telescope
The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, November 11, 2015 8:12PM EST

SANTIAGO, Chile -- A groundbreaking ceremony has been held in Chile for the Giant Magellan Telescope.

Scientists and officials gathered Wednesday on a mountaintop high in the Chilean Andes cordillera for the ceremony marking the launch of construction on what is expected to be the largest telescope ever built when it is completed in 2021.

The GMT, as it's known for short, will be in the Atacama Desert. Experts say it will produce images 10 times sharper than those delivered by the Hubble Space Telescope.

It is intended to help answer questions in cosmology, astrophysics and the study of planets outside the solar system.

More:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/scientists-break-ground-in-chile-on-what-s-expected-to-be-world-s-largest-telescope-1.2654468

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The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization Breaks Ground in Chile


Posted on November 11, 2015

Pasadena, CA – November 11, 2015 – Leading scientists, senior officials, and supporters from an international consortium of universities and research institutions are gathering on a remote mountaintop high in the Chilean Andes today to celebrate groundbreaking for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The ceremony marks the commencement of on-site construction of the telescope and its support base. The GMT is poised to become the world’s largest telescope when it begins early operations in 2021. It will produce images ten times sharper than those delivered by the Hubble Space Telescope and will address key questions in cosmology, astrophysics and the study of planets outside our solar system.

“We are thrilled to be breaking ground on the Giant Magellan Telescope site at such an exciting time for astronomy,” says Board Chair, and Director of the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Taft Armandroff. “With its unprecedented size and resolving power, the Giant Magellan Telescope will allow current and future generations of astronomers to continue the journey of cosmic discovery.”

The GMT will be located at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Known for its clear, dark skies and outstanding astronomical image clarity, Las Campanas is one of the world’s premier locations for astronomy. Construction crews will soon be busy on the site building the roads, power, data, and other infrastructure needed to support the observatory.

The unique design of the telescope combines seven of the largest mirrors that can be manufactured, each 8.4 meters (27 feet) across, to create a single telescope effectively 25 meters or 85 feet in diameter. The giant mirrors are being developed at the University of Arizona’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory. Each mirror must be polished to an accuracy of 25 nanometers or one millionth of an inch.

More:
http://www.gmto.org/2015/11/the-giant-magellan-telescope-organization-breaks-ground-in-chile/

Science:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=edit&forum=1228&thread=39160&pid=43473

[longship]

1. An even larger telescope is going forward in Hawaii.

That is if the volcano gods will allow it.

Thirty Meter Telescope

Unfortunately, protesters who hate science have been blocking workers from getting to the observatory near the Maunakea summit. Their volcano gods apparently hate astronomy.

Of course, the loonies have no case. It's sad, really, how ignorance can trump knowledge.

[SheilaT]

2. I've had the good fortune to take a tour of the mirror lab

at the University of Arizona, and they were working on one of the mirrors for that telescope some two years ago. I don't know if they give tours to general visitors. I got in because I was taking part in the adult astronomy camp at that time, which is possibly the very coolest thing ever.