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Groundbreaking for the Giant Magellan Telescope began with a ceremony on the clear moonless evening of November 11 at Las Campanas Observatory in central Chile.
This event marks the official start of construction for what will become the world's most powerful optical observatory in the early 2020's.[1] Ultimately the telescope will consist of seven 8.4 meter mirrors forming a single optical surface over 24 meters in diameter with a resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope. The GMT will be the first of several next-generation telescopes that are essentially guaranteed to challenge our understanding of the universe.
Las Campanas, located in the southern Atacama Desert in the Chilean Andes, is one of the best places in the world for astronomy. The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization is a consortium of 11 governments, organizations, and universities.
The science case for the GMT is a drool-worthy cornucopia of astrophysics, including formation of stars and planetary systems, properties of exoplanets (including their atmospheres), chemical evolution in stellar populations, dark matter and dark energy (including synergy with the LSST), galaxy formation and evolution, and the first light and reionization of the universe. The potential for observing non-equilibrium chemistry in extrasolar planetary atmospheres is pretty darned exciting with consequences that could reach beyond astrophysics to religion, philosophy, and policy.
The future of astronomy is very bright.
[1] In addition to the 24m GMT, the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii (by an International Consortium) is planned for 2022 and the European Extremely Large Telescope in Chile (by the European Southern Observatory) is planned for 2024 at 39 meters across. Also covered at Ars Technica -Ed.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday November 13 2015, @05:26PM
Somewhat Humongously Immense Telescope is favorite, though Bazillion-Radius Advanced Telescope was a contender.
You'd think they'd be more creative given the lack of distractions atop the Atacama, but actually they're really tired of naming stuff all day long...