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Giant Magellan Telescope, courtesy of Carnegie Observatories
The Australian National University will help build the world's most
powerful telescope after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the
weekend to construct the giant telescope with an international
consortium of research organisations.
The Giant Magellan Telescope, or GMT, is in the preliminary planning
stage and is likely to be one of the first of a small number of next
generation Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) due to come on-line in
the next two decades.
The GMT will detect and study planets around other suns, probe the
dark matter and dark energy that controls the expansion and
development of the cosmos, and unlock the secrets of star and planet
formation.
As part of the GMT consortium, ANU joins an elite group of research
and teaching institutions in the US to plan the detailed design of the
telescope (see http://www.gmto.org),
including the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Harvard University,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona,
the University of Michigan, the Smithsonian Institution, the University
of Texas at Austin and the Texas A&M University.
ANU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Chubb, said involvement in the
project was an important initiative for the University.
"The Giant Magellan is one of several international projects ANU will
be conducting with overseas partners to solve some of the biggest
questions facing humankind. We're pleased to be part of this visionary
project, which captures the forward strategic plan for the Research
School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and that of the ANU more
generally," Professor Chubb said.
Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, which
is based on Mt Stromlo in Canberra, Professor Penny Sackett, signed
the Memorandum of Understanding in Texas over the weekend.
"Stromlo has always been at the forefront of astronomy and its
instrumentation. This partnership is a giant step toward the astronomy
of the next decade, and will ensure that ANU - and Australia - remains
at the cutting edge of scientific research into our universe,"
Professor Sackett said.
The telescope's conceptual design anticipates a moving mass of 1000
metric tonnes and a cylindrical enclosing dome towering 65 metres -
about 18 storeys - high.
Based on a superb observing site in northern Chile, the telescope is
expected to "see first light" in 2015 and come into routine operation
one year later. The first mirror of the huge assembly has already been
cast in Tucson, Arizona, and is being prepared for polishing. Over the
next three years, the GMT Partnership will engage in an intense
detailed design phase in which contracts could flow to Australia
before building begins in 2010.
Dr Wendy Freedman, Director of the Observatories at the Carnegie
Institution of Washington and Chair of the GMT Board warmly welcomed
the entry of the ANU into the project. "I'm delighted that the ANU is
entering the consortium. Australia is a world-leader in astronomical
research and instrumentation, and will bring a great deal to the
project. All of us in the GMT consortium are tremendously excited
about this partnership with ANU."
The primary mirror of the Giant Magellan Telescope will be composed of
six segments, each 8.4 metres in diameter surrounding a seventh
central mirror of the same size. The total light gathering power thus
will be nearly seven times that of the international Gemini
telescopes, the largest telescopes to which Australian astronomers now
have access.
Professor Sackett said this was a giant step for Australia as well as
for the ANU. "Nothing would please me more than if our initial
membership would prompt other institutions in Australia, or Australia
as a nation, to join the partnership. We?ll be working with our
colleagues to assist in reaching this goal. Participation in ELT is a
cornerstone of Australia?s Decadal Plan for Astronomy, and Australia
has a tremendous capacity to add to the GMT consortium and benefit
from it."
The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics is renowned for its
design and manufacture of instruments for adaptive optics capable
telescopes and its new Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre,
specifically designed for ELT-era technology, will be completed later
this year.
Further Information
Professor Penny Sackett: +61 2 6125 0266 / director.rsaa@anu.edu.au
Dr Wendy Freedman, Chair, GMT Board: + 1 626 304 0204 / wendy@ociw.edu
Professor Matthew Colless, Anglo-Australian Observatory: +61 2 9372 4812 / director@aao.gov.au
ANU Media Office: +61 2 6125 5575 / 0416 249 245 / media@anu.edu.au
IMAGES and VIDEO of the Giant Magellan Telescope available from
http://www.gmto.org.
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