Giant Magellan Telescope GMTO Corp.

Are we alone in the cosmos? With the Giant Magellan Telescope, we'll explore this question and more in studying the properties of planets around other stars and the early formation of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems.

Go behind-the-scenes with Arizona Public Media. Arizona Illustrated recently took an in-depth tour through The University of Arizona mirror lab to learn how our telescope mirrors are made. https://www.azpm.org//20/4/21/193368-mirrors-for-magellan/

Got weekend plans? Tune in tomorrow for Texas A&M University's Physics and Engineering Festival! Their free virtual event looks packed with exciting interactive science demonstrations and talks.

The University of Arizona's Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab at University of Arizona Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory leads the world in making large..., lightweight mirrors for the next generation of giant optical telescopes. Currently, they are in the process of fabricating seven massive 8.4 meter mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope GMTO Corp. (GMT), which promises to revolutionize our views of the cosmos with optics 10 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. See more

We're tuning in tonight at 7:15 pm PDT! Join McDonald Observatory for a live deep sky tour with views of several targets from the dark skies at McDonald Observatory. https://youtube.com/watch?v=HPdzqSDaMRw

Want to join the Giant Magellan Telescope team? We're #hiring a Senior Adaptive Optics Scientist to play a lead role in the design, development, integration, and testing of the adaptive and active optics control subsystems. https://www.gmto.org//em/senior-adaptive-optics-scientist/

To detect rocky planets within 30 light years of Earth, radial velocity measurements are needed. With the Giant Magellan Telescope, we'll be on the lookout for Earth-like planets orbiting the nearest Sun-like stars. NASA/Daniel Rutter

#DYK for each Giant Magellan Telescope mirror, ~1,700 alumina-silica fiber hexagonal boxes are used to form the mirror mold? This allows for the mirrors to be eighty percent hollow, as stiff and light as is practical. Stiff enough to withstand the forces of gravity and wind, while light enough not to bend under their own weight.

SHOOT FOR THE STARS: The building will house two major projects including the construction of an 1,800 ton mount for a Giant Magellan Telescope, a global collaboration leaders say will give scientists a deeper look into the universe.

Ingersoll’s latest investment in Illinois will pave the way to one of the largest and most powerful telescopes in the world rivaling that of the Hubble. We're excited that ‘made in Illinois’ will be part of this important new program.

It's been an exciting day at Ingersoll Machine Tools! We were honored to be there for the ground breaking of a new 40,000 square foot facility enabling the precision assembly for our telescope structure.

The Giant Magellan Telescope will embark on a mission of discovery. In exploring the origins of the chemical elements that make up our planet, we'll answer one of humanity’s most pressing questions, are we alone?

The Giant Magellan Telescope GMTO Corp.'s #seismic protection system (recently validated by an independent review panel) is capable of protecting the 14-million-pound #observatory from #earthquake damage.

It takes more than four years to produce a Giant Magellan Telescope mirror from start to finish. Our third mirror segment has achieved 200 nanometer accuracy and is now less than one year from completion. Mirror polishing continues at the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab under The University of Arizona football stadium.

Congratulations to Belinda Wilkes, named a 2021 American Astronomical Society Fellow for her leadership of the astronomical community as former director of Chandra X-ray Observatory. This year, only 31 members of the AAS have received this prestigious honor.

Congratulations to our own Dr. Anita Cochran, Assistant Director of McDonald Observatory! A senior research scientist specializing in the study of comets, she has been honored as a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society for 2021! https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20210203

Today, we are launching our first Giant Magellan Telescope Advisory Council! Join us in welcoming the international advocates who will be instrumental in the success of constructing our revolutionary telescope. https://www.gmto.org/advisory-council

Hear from Chilean astronomers and researchers at the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at @Harvard University on the feasibility of identifying extraterrestrial life and how the Giant Magellan Telescope will be instrumental in changing our understanding of the universe. https://bit.ly/34dOB80

The Giant Magellan Telescope’s sensitivity, resolution, and spectroscopic capabilities make understanding the origins of a wide range of planetary systems possible. In measuring the physical properties of planets, astronomers will compare our solar system to its neighbors, looking for alien worlds like us, and like we never imagined.

This year, Carnegie Astronomy is bringing their open house straight to you. Check out their behind-the-scenes tours and astronomy activities. While you're there, hear from the experts building the Giant Magellan Telescope on our most frequently asked questions. https://bit.ly/31501Jk

With the Giant Magellan Telescope's unique design, seven mirrors will align to a fraction of wavelength to work in unison as one coherent surface. Light reflected off the mirror edges is dispersed allowing for certainty in the telescope's alignment at all wavelengths.

Tune in to Harvard University's virtual program, 24 Hours of Harvard, this Wednesday for an engaging discussion with local astronomers in Chile. Dr. Miguel Roth will discuss how the Giant Magellan Telescope is positioned to answer one of humanity’s most pressing questions: are we alone in the universe? https://bit.ly/3nma6Lq

The Giant Magellan Telescope will unravel the evolution of galaxies with adaptive optics. The telescope will produce detailed maps of active star-formation regions and the ages and orbits of different stellar populations inside non-star forming galaxies. Image: ESA/Hubble NASA, M Gregg

EtherCAT control technology from Beckhoff Automation is advancing the Giant Magellan Telescope’s control systems. https://bit.ly/3cb3bzE

Tune in tonight at 6:00 pm PT!

The Giant Magellan Telescope will overcome the distortive effects of Earth’s atmosphere with revolutionary adaptive optics technologies. Ethan Siegel shares how other advancements in astronomy are winning the battle in his latest Forbes piece. https://bit.ly/3kCvNVm

Astronomers will use the Giant Magellan Telescope "for a variety of high-impact projects, from hunting for signs of life in the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets to probing the nature of dark matter and dark energy," shares Mike Wall of Space.com following an interview with our project manager and president. https://bit.ly/2ZJd56p

The Giant Magellan Telescope has seven of the world’s most sophisticated adaptive secondary mirrors, each just 2mm thick. These magic mirrors flex 1,000 times per second to correct for the blur of Earth’s atmospheric turbulence. We are about to build the first of seven in collaboration with AdOptica. https://bit.ly/nsfaward

The Giant Magellan Telescope has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to accelerate the development and testing of some of the most powerful optical technologies ever engineered. The crucial advancements will have a profound impact on one of humanity’s most pressing questions: are we alone in the universe? http://bit.ly/nsfaward

The #GMT will cover a very broad range of astrophysics. The telescope will address many areas of astronomy such as the formation of stars and planetary systems, the properties of exoplanetary systems, stellar populations and chemical evolution, galaxy assembly and evolution, dark matter, dark energy and fundamental physics, first light and reionization, and transient phenomena to name a few! With so much science to look forward to, we can't wait to start exploring. #science